Bill Text: TX HB2295 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to allowing certain counties to cease operation of a juvenile justice alternative education program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-26 - Removed from local & uncontested calendar [HB2295 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB2295-Comm_Sub.html
By: Wu (Senate Sponsor - Alvarado) | H.B. No. 2295 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2021; | ||
May 14, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on | ||
Jurisprudence; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following | ||
vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.) | ||
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relating to allowing certain counties to cease operation of a | ||
juvenile justice alternative education program. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 25.086(a), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) A child is exempt from the requirements of compulsory | ||
school attendance if the child: | ||
(1) attends a private or parochial school that | ||
includes in its course a study of good citizenship; | ||
(2) is eligible to participate in a school district's | ||
special education program under Section 29.003 and cannot be | ||
appropriately served by the resident district; | ||
(3) has a physical or mental condition of a temporary | ||
and remediable nature that makes the child's attendance infeasible | ||
and holds a certificate from a qualified physician specifying the | ||
temporary condition, indicating the treatment prescribed to remedy | ||
the temporary condition, and covering the anticipated period of the | ||
child's absence from school for the purpose of receiving and | ||
recuperating from that remedial treatment; | ||
(4) is expelled in accordance with the requirements of | ||
law in a school district that does not participate in a [ |
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juvenile justice alternative education program required under | ||
Section 37.011(a) [ |
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(5) is at least 17 years of age and: | ||
(A) is attending a course of instruction to | ||
prepare for the high school equivalency examination, and: | ||
(i) has the permission of the child's parent | ||
or guardian to attend the course; | ||
(ii) is required by court order to attend | ||
the course; | ||
(iii) has established a residence separate | ||
and apart from the child's parent, guardian, or other person having | ||
lawful control of the child; or | ||
(iv) is homeless; or | ||
(B) has received a high school diploma or high | ||
school equivalency certificate; | ||
(6) is at least 16 years of age and is attending a | ||
course of instruction to prepare for the high school equivalency | ||
examination, if: | ||
(A) the child is recommended to take the course | ||
of instruction by a public agency that has supervision or custody of | ||
the child under a court order; or | ||
(B) the child is enrolled in a Job Corps training | ||
program under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. | ||
Section 2801 et seq.); | ||
(7) is at least 16 years of age and is enrolled in a | ||
high school diploma program under Chapter 18; | ||
(8) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics | ||
and Science under Subchapter G, Chapter 105; | ||
(9) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Leadership in | ||
the Humanities; | ||
(10) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of Mathematics | ||
and Science at The University of Texas at Brownsville; | ||
(11) is enrolled in the Texas Academy of International | ||
Studies; or | ||
(12) is specifically exempted under another law. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 37.011, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a) and (a-4) and adding Subsection (a-6) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) In [ |
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greater than 125,000 in which an election by the commissioners | ||
court under Subsection (a-6) has not been made, the juvenile board | ||
shall develop a juvenile justice alternative education program, | ||
subject to the approval of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. | ||
The juvenile board of a county with a population of 125,000 or less | ||
may develop a juvenile justice alternative education program. For | ||
the purposes of this subchapter, only a disciplinary alternative | ||
education program operated under the authority of a juvenile board | ||
of a county is considered a juvenile justice alternative education | ||
program. A juvenile justice alternative education program in a | ||
county with a population of 125,000 or less: | ||
(1) is not required to be approved by the department; | ||
and | ||
(2) is not subject to Subsection (c), (d), (f), or (g). | ||
(a-4) A school district located in a county considered to be | ||
a county with a population of 125,000 or less under Subsection (a-3) | ||
or (a-6) shall provide educational services to a student who is | ||
expelled from school under this chapter. The district is entitled | ||
to count the student in the district's average daily attendance for | ||
purposes of receipt of state funds under the Foundation School | ||
Program. An educational placement under this section may include: | ||
(1) the district's disciplinary alternative education | ||
program; or | ||
(2) a contracted placement with: | ||
(A) another school district; | ||
(B) an open-enrollment charter school; | ||
(C) an institution of higher education; | ||
(D) an adult literacy council; or | ||
(E) a community organization that can provide an | ||
educational program that allows the student to complete the credits | ||
required for high school graduation. | ||
(a-6) The commissioners court of a county with a population | ||
greater than 3.3 million may, by a majority vote, elect to cease | ||
operating a juvenile justice alternative education program in the | ||
county because the program is no longer necessary or | ||
cost-effective. A commissioners court that has elected to cease | ||
operating a juvenile justice alternative education program shall | ||
notify the Texas Juvenile Justice Department in writing. For | ||
purposes of this section and Section 37.010(a), a county in which an | ||
election to cease operating a juvenile justice alternative | ||
education program has been made is considered to be a county with a | ||
population of 125,000 or less. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 53.02(e), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(e) Unless otherwise agreed in the memorandum of | ||
understanding under Section 37.011, Education Code, in a county | ||
with a population greater than 125,000 in which an election by the | ||
commissioners court under Section 37.011(a-6), Education Code, has | ||
not been made, if a child being released under this section is | ||
expelled under Section 37.007, Education Code, the release shall be | ||
conditioned on the child's attending a juvenile justice alternative | ||
education program pending a deferred prosecution or formal court | ||
disposition of the child's case. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 54.01(f), Family Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(f) Unless otherwise agreed in the memorandum of | ||
understanding under Section 37.011, Education Code, a release may | ||
be conditioned on requirements reasonably necessary to insure the | ||
child's appearance at later proceedings, but the conditions of the | ||
release must be in writing and a copy furnished to the child. In a | ||
county with a population greater than 125,000 in which an election | ||
by the commissioners court under Section 37.011(a-6), Education | ||
Code, has not been made, if a child being released under this | ||
section is expelled under Section 37.007, Education Code, the | ||
release shall be conditioned on the child's attending a juvenile | ||
justice alternative education program pending a deferred | ||
prosecution or formal court disposition of the child's case. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 | ||
school year. | ||
SECTION 6. 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, 2021. | ||
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