Perry’s bill expanding mandatory school expulsion

The text as introduced · 2,346 words

89R5790 MEW-F

By: Perry, Sparks
S.B. No. 1872

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the expulsion of a public school student for engaging in

conduct that constitutes certain offenses.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 37.007(a) and (b), Education Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (k) and subject to the

requirements of Section 37.009(a), a student shall be expelled from

a school if the student, [ on school property or while attending a

school-sponsored or school-related activity ] on or off of school

property:

(1) engages in conduct that contains the elements of

the offense of unlawfully carrying weapons under Section 46.02,

Penal Code, or elements of an offense relating to prohibited

weapons under Section 46.05, Penal Code;

(2) engages in conduct that contains the elements of

the offense of:

(A) aggravated assault under Section 22.02,

Penal Code, sexual assault under Section 22.011, Penal Code, or

aggravated sexual assault under Section 22.021, Penal Code;

(B) arson under Section 28.02, Penal Code;

(C) murder under Section 19.02, Penal Code,

capital murder under Section 19.03, Penal Code, or criminal

attempt, under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit murder or

capital murder;

(D) indecency with a child under Section 21.11,

Penal Code;

(E) aggravated kidnapping under Section 20.04,

Penal Code;

(F) aggravated robbery under Section 29.03,

Penal Code;

(G) manslaughter under Section 19.04, Penal

Code;

(H) criminally negligent homicide under Section

19.05, Penal Code; or

(I) continuous sexual abuse of young child or

disabled individual under Section 21.02, Penal Code; [ or ]

(3) engages in conduct specified by Section

37.006(a)(2)(C), if the conduct is punishable as a felony ; or

(4) engages in conduct that contains the elements of

an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code, against a school

district employee or a volunteer as defined by Section 22.053 of

this code .

(b) A student may be expelled if the student:

(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that

contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under

Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section

22.07, Penal Code;

(2) while on or within 300 feet of school property, as

measured from any point on the school's real property boundary

line, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related

activity on or off of school property:

(A) except as provided by Subsection (a)(3),

sells, gives, or delivers to another person or possesses, uses, or

is under the influence of any amount of:

(i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as

defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C.

Section 801 et seq.;

(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by

Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code; or

(iii) an alcoholic beverage, as defined by

Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code;

(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements

of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under

Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code; or

(C) [ engages in conduct that contains the

elements of an offense under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code,

against a school district employee or a volunteer as defined by

Section 22.053; or

[ (D) ] engages in conduct that contains the

elements of the offense of deadly conduct under Section 22.05,

Penal Code;

(3) [ subject to Subsection (d), ] while within 300 feet

of school property, as measured from any point on the school's real

property boundary line , [ :

[ (A) engages in conduct specified by Subsection

(a); or

[ (B) ] possesses a firearm, as defined by 18

U.S.C. Section 921;

[ (4) engages in conduct that contains the elements of

any offense listed in Subsection (a)(2)(A) or (C) or the offense of

aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code, against another

student, without regard to whether the conduct occurs on or off of

school property or while attending a school-sponsored or

school-related activity on or off of school property; ] or

(4) [ (5) ] engages in conduct that contains the

elements of the offense of breach of computer security under

Section 33.02, Penal Code, if:

(A) the conduct involves accessing a computer,

computer network, or computer system owned by or operated on behalf

of a school district; and

(B) the student knowingly:

(i) alters, damages, or deletes school

district property or information; or

(ii) commits a breach of any other

computer, computer network, or computer system.

SECTION 2. Section 37.002(d), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(d) A teacher shall remove from class and send to the

principal for placement in a disciplinary alternative education

program or for expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in

conduct described under Section 37.006 or 37.007. The student may

not be returned to that teacher's class without the teacher's

consent unless the committee established under Section 37.003

determines that such placement is the best or only alternative

available. If the teacher removed the student from class because

the student has engaged in the elements of any offense listed in

Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or Section 37.007(a)(2)(A) or (a)(4)

[ (b)(2)(C) ] against the teacher, the student may not be returned to

the teacher's class without the teacher's consent. The teacher may

not be coerced to consent.

SECTION 3. Sections 37.006(a) and (b), Education Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) Subject to the requirements of Section 37.009(a), a

student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary

alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the

student:

(1) engages in conduct involving a public school that

contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under

Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section

22.07, Penal Code; or

(2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of

school property, as measured from any point on the school's real

property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or

school-related activity on or off of school property:

(A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony;

(B) engages in conduct that contains the elements

of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code;

(C) except as provided by Section 37.007(a)(3),

sells, gives, or delivers to another person or possesses or uses or

is under the influence of:

(i) a controlled substance, as defined by

Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et

seq., excluding marihuana, as defined by Section 481.002, Health

and Safety Code, or tetrahydrocannabinol, as defined by rule

adopted under Section 481.003 of that code; or

(ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by

Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code;

(C-1) possesses, uses, or is under the influence

of, or sells, gives, or delivers to another person marihuana, as

defined by Section 481.002, Health and Safety Code, or

tetrahydrocannabinol, as defined by rule adopted under Section

481.003 of that code;

(C-2) possesses, uses, sells, gives, or delivers

to another person an e-cigarette, as defined by Section 161.081,

Health and Safety Code;

(D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person

an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic

Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the

influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence

of an alcoholic beverage;

(E) engages in conduct that contains the elements

of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under

Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code;

(F) engages in conduct that contains the elements

of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code,

or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code; or

(G) engages in conduct that contains the elements

of the offense of harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), (2), (3),

or (7), Penal Code, against an employee of the school district.

(b) A [ Except as provided by Section 37.007(d), a ] student

shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary

alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student

engages in conduct on or off of school property that contains the

elements of the offense of retaliation under Section 36.06, Penal

Code, against any school employee.

SECTION 4. Sections 37.011(b), (h), and (k), Education

Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) If a student admitted into the public schools of a

school district under Section 25.001(b) is expelled from school for

conduct for which expulsion is required under Section 37.007(a)[ ,

(d), ] or (e), or for conduct that contains the elements of the

offense of terroristic threat as described by Section 22.07(c-1),

(d), or (e), Penal Code, the juvenile court, the juvenile board, or

the juvenile board's designee, as appropriate, shall:

(1) if the student is placed on probation under

Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend the

juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in

which the student resides from the date of disposition as a

condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a

post-adjudication treatment facility;

(2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution

under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor, or

probation department, require the student to immediately attend the

juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in

which the student resides for a period not to exceed six months as a

condition of the deferred prosecution;

(3) in determining the conditions of the deferred

prosecution or court-ordered probation, consider the length of the

school district's expulsion order for the student; and

(4) provide timely educational services to the student

in the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county

in which the student resides, regardless of the student's age or

whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student.

(h) Academically, the mission of juvenile justice

alternative education programs shall be to enable students to

perform at grade level. For purposes of accountability under

Chapters 39 and 39A, a student enrolled in a juvenile justice

alternative education program is reported as if the student were

enrolled at the student's assigned campus in the student's

regularly assigned education program, including a special

education program. Annually the Texas Juvenile Justice

Department, with the agreement of the commissioner, shall develop

and implement a system of accountability consistent with Chapters

39 and 39A, where appropriate, to assure that students make

progress toward grade level while attending a juvenile justice

alternative education program. The department shall adopt rules

for the distribution of funds appropriated under this section to

juvenile boards in counties required to establish juvenile justice

alternative education programs. Except as determined by the

commissioner, a student served by a juvenile justice alternative

education program on the basis of an expulsion required under

Section 37.007(a)[ , (d), ] or (e) is not eligible for Foundation

School Program funding under Chapter 31 or 48 if the juvenile

justice alternative education program receives funding from the

department under this subchapter.

(k) Each school district in a county with a population

greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall annually

enter into a joint memorandum of understanding that:

(1) outlines the responsibilities of the juvenile

board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile

justice alternative education program under this section;

(2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from

the school district to the juvenile board for students of the school

district served in the juvenile justice alternative education

program whose placement was not made on the basis of an expulsion

required under Section 37.007(a)[ , (d), ] or (e);

(3) establishes that a student may be placed in the

juvenile justice alternative education program if the student

engages in serious misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c);

(4) identifies and requires a timely placement and

specifies a term of placement for expelled students for whom the

school district has received a notice under Section 52.041(d),

Family Code;

(5) establishes services for the transitioning of

expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of

the student's placement in the juvenile justice alternative

education program;

(6) establishes a plan that provides transportation

services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative

education program;

(7) establishes the circumstances and conditions

under which a juvenile may be allowed to remain in the juvenile

justice alternative education program setting once the juvenile is

no longer under juvenile court jurisdiction; and

(8) establishes a plan to address special education

services required by law.

SECTION 5. Section 37.015(a), Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) The principal of a public or private primary or

secondary school, or a person designated by the principal under

Subsection (d), shall notify any school district police department

and the police department of the municipality in which the school is

located or, if the school is not in a municipality, the sheriff of

the county in which the school is located if the principal has

reasonable grounds to believe that any of the following activities

occur in school, on school property, or at a school-sponsored or

school-related activity on or off school property, whether or not

the activity is investigated by school security officers:

(1) conduct that may constitute an offense listed

under Section 508.149, Government Code;

(2) deadly conduct under Section 22.05, Penal Code;

(3) a terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal

Code;

(4) the use, sale, or possession of a controlled

substance, drug paraphernalia, or marihuana under Chapter 481,

Health and Safety Code;

(5) the possession of any of the weapons or devices

listed under Sections 46.01(1)-(14) or Section 46.01(16), Penal

Code;

(6) conduct that may constitute a criminal offense

under Section 71.02, Penal Code; or

(7) conduct that may constitute a criminal offense for

which a student may be expelled under Section 37.007(a)[ , (d), ] or

(e).

SECTION 6. Sections 37.007(d) and (i), Education Code, are

repealed.

SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026

school year.

SECTION 8. 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.