60-Day Expulsion Cap Bill Also Requires A Danger Finding

The text as introduced · 1,576 words

89R15145 RDR-F

By: Allen
H.B. No. 4651

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the period for which a public school student may be

placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or expelled.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37.001(a), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district

shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established

under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for

the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and

prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for

review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to

establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of

conduct must:

(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this

subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,

campus, disciplinary alternative education program, or vehicle

owned or operated by the district;

(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a

principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student

to a disciplinary alternative education program;

(3) outline conditions under which a student may be

suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by

Section 37.007;

(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a

factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a

disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or

placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,

regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or

discretionary action, to:

(A) self-defense;

(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the

student engaged in the conduct;

(C) a student's disciplinary history;

(D) a disability that substantially impairs the

student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's

conduct;

(E) a student's status in the conservatorship of

the Department of Family and Protective Services; or

(F) a student's status as a student who is

homeless;

(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a

term of:

(A) a removal under Section 37.006 , which may not

exceed 30 days ; and

(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007 , which may

not exceed 60 days ;

(6) address the notification of a student's parent or

guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by

the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary

alternative education program, or expulsion;

(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit

lists and ensure that district employees enforce those

prohibitions;

(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade

level, methods, including options, for:

(A) managing students in the classroom, on school

grounds, and on a vehicle owned or operated by the district;

(B) disciplining students; and

(C) preventing and intervening in student

discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making

hit lists; and

(9) include an explanation of the provisions regarding

refusal of entry to or ejection from district property under

Section 37.105, including the appeal process established under

Section 37.105(h).

SECTION 2. Sections 37.009(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (h),

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, 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. The [ If the ] period of the placement must

be consistent [ 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. ]

(b) If a student's placement in a disciplinary alternative

education program is to extend beyond 10 [ 60 ] days or the end of the

next grading period, whichever is earlier, a student's parent or

guardian is entitled to notice of and an opportunity to participate

in a proceeding before the board of trustees of the school district

or the board's designee, as provided by policy of the board of

trustees of the district. Any decision of the board or the board's

designee under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.

(c) Before it may place [ a student ] in a disciplinary

alternative education program or expel a student for a reason for

which placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or

expulsion is permissive [ a period that extends beyond the end of the

school year ], the board or the board's designee must determine

that[ :

[ (1) ] the student's presence in the regular classroom

program or at the student's regular campus presents a danger of

physical harm to the student or to another individual[ ; or

[ (2) the student has engaged in serious or persistent

misbehavior that violates the district's student code of conduct ].

(d) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a

student's placement in a disciplinary alternative education

program that is consistent [ . 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:

[ (1) the student is a threat to the safety of other

students or to district employees; or

[ (2) extended placement is in the best interest of the

student. ]

(e) A student placed in a disciplinary alternative

education program or expelled shall be provided a review of the

student's status, including a review of the student's academic

status, by the board's designee at intervals not to exceed 10 [ 120 ]

days. In the case of a high school student, the board's designee,

with the student's parent or guardian, shall review the student's

progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and

shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The

district is not required under this subsection to provide a course

in the district's disciplinary alternative education program

except as required by Section 37.008(l). At the review, the student

or the student's parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to

present arguments for the student's return to the regular classroom

or campus. The student may not be returned to the classroom of the

teacher who removed the student without that teacher's consent.

The teacher may not be coerced to consent.

(h) The board or the board's designee shall set a term for a

student's expulsion that is consistent [ If the period of an

expulsion 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 an expulsion may

not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines

that:

[ (1) the student is a threat to the safety of other

students or to district employees; or

[ (2) extended placement is in the best interest of the

student. ] After a school district notifies the parents or

guardians of a student that the student has been expelled, the

parent or guardian shall provide adequate supervision of the

student during the period of expulsion.

SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 4. 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.