bill ends discipline hearings held without the student or parent

The text as introduced · 787 words

89R14633 GP-D

By: Cunningham
H.B. No. 3754

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a school district conference or hearing following a

public school student's removal from a classroom or expulsion.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 37.009(a) and (f), Education Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) Not later than the third class day after the day on which

a student is removed from class by the teacher under Section

37.002(b) or (d) or by the school principal or other appropriate

administrator under Section 37.001(a)(2) or 37.006, the campus

behavior coordinator or other appropriate administrator shall

schedule a conference among the campus behavior coordinator or

other appropriate administrator, a parent or guardian of the

student or another adult who can provide guidance to the student and

who is not an employee of the school district , the teacher removing

the student from class, if any, and the student. At the conference,

the student is entitled to written or oral notice of the reasons for

the removal, an explanation of the basis for the removal, and an

opportunity to respond to the reasons for the removal. The student

may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the

conference. Following the conference, [ and whether or not each

requested person is in attendance after valid attempts to require

the person's attendance, ] the campus behavior coordinator, after

consideration of the factors under Section 37.001(a)(4), shall

order the placement of the student for a period consistent with the

student code of conduct. Before ordering the suspension,

expulsion, removal to a disciplinary alternative education

program, or placement in a juvenile justice alternative education

program of a student, the behavior coordinator must consider

whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of

intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the student's

disciplinary history, and whether the student has a disability that

substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the

wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of whether the

decision of the behavior coordinator concerns a mandatory or

discretionary action. If school district policy allows a student

to appeal to the board of trustees or the board's designee a

decision of the campus behavior coordinator or other appropriate

administrator, other than an expulsion under Section 37.007, the

decision of the board or the board's designee is final and may not

be appealed. If the period of the placement is inconsistent with

the guidelines included in the student code of conduct under

Section 37.001(a)(5), the order must give notice of the

inconsistency. The period of the placement may not exceed one year

unless, after a review, the district determines that the student is

a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees.

(f) Before a student may be expelled under Section 37.007,

the board or the board's designee must provide the student a hearing

at which the student is afforded appropriate due process as

required by the federal constitution and which the student's parent

or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend. At the hearing, the

student is entitled to be represented by the student's parent or

guardian or another adult who can provide guidance to the student

and who is not an employee of the school district. [ If the school

district makes a good-faith effort to inform the student and the

student's parent or guardian of the time and place of the hearing,

the district may hold the hearing regardless of whether the

student, the student's parent or guardian, or another adult

representing the student attends. ] Before ordering the expulsion

of a student, the board of trustees must consider whether the

student acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of intent at the

time the student engaged in the conduct, the student's disciplinary

history, and whether the student has a disability that

substantially impairs the student's capacity to appreciate the

wrongfulness of the student's conduct, regardless of whether the

decision of the board concerns a mandatory or discretionary action.

If the decision to expel a student is made by the board's designee,

the decision may be appealed to the board. The decision of the

board may be appealed by trial de novo to a district court of the

county in which the school district's central administrative office

is located.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.