Bill Text: TX HB522 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to establishing a pilot program in designated public high schools in certain municipalities for placement of students in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs as an alternative to placement in disciplinary or juvenile justice alternative education programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-16 - Referred to Public Education [HB522 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB522-Introduced.html

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84R3075 PAM-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 522

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing a pilot program in designated public high
schools in certain municipalities for placement of students in
Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs as an alternative
to placement in disciplinary or juvenile justice alternative
education programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter A-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A-1. PILOT PROGRAM IN DESIGNATED HIGH SCHOOLS IN
CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES FOR ALTERNATIVE DISCIPLINARY PLACEMENT:
JUNIOR RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS (JROTC)
Sec. 37.031. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) A pilot
program is established under this subchapter for placement of high
school students in Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs
as an alternative, in accordance with Section 37.032, to placement
in disciplinary alternative education programs or juvenile justice
alternative education programs.
(b) The pilot program applies only to a student enrolled in
a high school:
(1) located in a municipality that:
(A) has a population of 200,000 or more;
(B) is located on an international border; and
(C) has more than 20 percent of the population 18
to 24 years of age who have not graduated from high school,
according to the most recent American Community Survey five-year
estimates compiled by the United States Census Bureau; and
(2) designated by the agency under Subsection (c).
(c) The agency shall designate not more than two high
schools that are located in a municipality described by Subsection
(b)(1) and that offer Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
programs to participate in the pilot program. The commissioner by
rule shall adopt additional criteria that promote positive student
educational outcomes for the agency to use in making designations
under this subchapter.
(d) The application of this subchapter to a student enrolled
in a high school located in a municipality described by Subsection
(b)(1) is not affected if, after the high school is designated under
Subsection (c), the high school graduation rate in the municipality
changes and the municipality no longer meets the requirements of
Subsection (b)(1)(C).
Sec. 37.032. PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS AND EXCEPTIONS.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of Subchapter A and except
as provided by Subsection (c), a student subject to this subchapter
who is otherwise required or permitted under Subchapter A to be
placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile
justice alternative education program may, instead of that
placement, be required to participate in a Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program if the student meets the initial eligibility
requirements for the program.
(b) A student required to participate in a Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps program as authorized under this
subchapter shall continue to attend the student's regularly
assigned classes, except that the student's schedule may be
modified to the extent necessary to provide for required attendance
in the program.
(c) This subchapter does not apply if:
(1) the student is removed from class and placed into
another appropriate classroom or into in-school suspension under
Section 37.002 or is suspended under Section 37.005;
(2) the student engages in conduct described by
Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or Section 37.007(a)(2) or (b)(2)(C);
(3) the continued presence of the student in the
regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or
teachers; or
(4) the student engages in conduct for which the
student is required to be expelled from the student's regular
campus under federal law.
Sec. 37.033. STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT. (a) In addition to
the requirements for the student code of conduct under Section
37.001, the student code of conduct for a school district that
includes a school designated under Section 37.031(c) must,
consistent with this subchapter and as applied to the designated
school:
(1) specify conditions that authorize a principal or
other appropriate administrator to require a student to participate
in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program;
(2) specify that consideration will be given, as a
factor in each decision concerning participation in a Junior
Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, 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; or
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
conduct;
(3) provide guidelines that promote positive student
educational outcomes for determining placement in a Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps program as an alternative to placement in
a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile justice
alternative education program;
(4) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
term of required participation in a Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program; and
(5) 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 required participation in a Junior
Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.
(b) This section does not require the student code of
conduct to specify a minimum term of required participation in a
Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.
Sec. 37.034. DETERMINATION REGARDING CERTAIN CONDUCT.
Section 37.006(e) applies to this subchapter.
Sec. 37.035. NOTICE TO PARENTS. (a) Not later than the
third class day after the date a student is required to participate
in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as authorized
under this subchapter, the school district shall notify the
student's parent or guardian of the student's placement. The notice
must include the reason for the placement.
(b) A noncustodial parent may request in writing that a
school district or school, for the remainder of the school year in
which the request is received, provide that parent with a copy of
any written notification relating to the student's placement as
authorized under this subchapter that is generally provided by the
district or school to a student's parent or guardian.
Sec. 37.036. TERM OF PLACEMENT. (a) The board of trustees
of the school district or the board's designee shall set a term for
a student's required participation in a Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program as authorized under this subchapter. The
term must be for a period consistent with the guidelines adopted
under the student code of conduct in accordance with Section
37.033(a)(4). If the period of placement is inconsistent with the
guidelines adopted under the student code of conduct, the notice
under Section 37.035(a) must provide an explanation of the
inconsistency.
(b) Before a student may be required to participate in a
Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as authorized under
this subchapter for a period that extends beyond the end of a school
year, the board of trustees or the board's designee must determine
that the student has engaged in serious or persistent misbehavior
that violates the district's student code of conduct. The period of
required participation may not exceed one year unless, after
review, the board or the board's designee determines that extended
placement is in the best interest of the student.
Sec. 37.037. APPEAL. Notwithstanding Section 7.057(e),
the decision to require a student to participate in a Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps program as authorized under this
subchapter may be appealed by the student or the student's parent or
guardian as provided by Sections 7.057(b), (c), (d), and (f).
Sec. 37.038. NOTICE TO EDUCATORS. (a) The board of
trustees of the school district shall inform each educator who has
responsibility for, or is under the direction and supervision of an
educator who has responsibility for, the instruction of a student
who is required to participate in a Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program as authorized under this subchapter.
(b) Each educator shall keep the information received under
this section confidential from any person not entitled to the
information under this section, except that the educator may share
the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided
for by state or federal law.
(c) The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or
suspend the certification of an educator who intentionally violates
this section or Section 37.039.
Sec. 37.039. TRANSFER OF STUDENT UNDER PILOT PROGRAM. (a)
If a student required to participate in a Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program as authorized under this subchapter enrolls
in another school district before the expiration of the period of
required participation, the board of trustees of the school
district requiring the participation shall provide to the district
in which the student enrolls, at the same time other records of the
student are provided, a copy of the placement order. The district
in which the student enrolls shall inform each educator who will
have responsibility for, or will be under the direction and
supervision of an educator who will have responsibility for, the
instruction of the student of the contents of the placement order.
(b) Each educator shall keep the information received under
this section confidential from any person not entitled to the
information under this section, except that the educator may share
the information with the student's parent or guardian as provided
for by state or federal law.
(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the school district in which
the student enrolls may continue the Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program placement under the terms of the order or may
allow the student to attend regular classes without completing the
period of required participation.
(d) If the school the student attends in the school district
in which the student enrolls does not offer a Junior Reserve
Officers' Training Corps program, the student may be placed in a
disciplinary alternative education program or a juvenile justice
alternative education program under the procedures provided by this
subchapter for the remainder of the term set under Section 37.036.
Sec. 37.040. PROCEDURE FOR ADDRESSING SUBSEQUENT CONDUCT
AFTER PROGRAM PARTICIPATION. A student required to participate in
a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as authorized
under this subchapter is subject to the provisions of Subchapter A
relating to removal from class and placement in a disciplinary
alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative
education program if the student, after completion of any required
participation in a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program
as authorized under this subchapter, engages in subsequent conduct
requiring or permitting the student to be removed from class and
placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile
justice alternative education program under Subchapter A.
Sec. 37.041. APPLICABILITY TO SUBCHAPTER A. Sections
37.002, 37.006, and 37.007 are subject to this subchapter.
Sec. 37.042. REVIEW OF PROGRAM; REPORT. Not later than
January 1, 2017, the commissioner shall review the pilot program
established under this subchapter and submit to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and the presiding officer of each legislative standing committee
with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary education a
written report regarding the progress made by the pilot program in
improving student educational outcomes.
Sec. 37.043. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires September
1, 2017.
SECTION 2. Section 37.020, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) For each placement in a Junior Reserve Officers'
Training Corps program under Subchapter A-1, the district shall
report:
(1) information identifying the student, including
the student's race, sex, and date of birth, that will enable the
agency to compare placement data with information collected through
other reports;
(2) information indicating whether the placement was
based on:
(A) conduct violating the student code of conduct
adopted under Section 37.001;
(B) conduct for which placement in a disciplinary
alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative
education program is otherwise required or permitted by this
subchapter; or
(C) conduct occurring while a student was
enrolled in another district and for which placement in a Junior
Reserve Officers' Training Corps program is permitted by Section
37.039;
(3) the number of full or partial days the student was
assigned to the program and the number of full or partial days the
student attended the program;
(4) the number of placements that were inconsistent
with the guidelines included in the student code of conduct under
Section 37.033(a)(4);
(5) information regarding the academic performance of
the student on assessment instruments required under Section
39.023(a), as applicable, during the year preceding, during the
year of, and during the year following placement in the program, to
the extent available; and
(6) information indicating whether the student
dropped out of school, to the extent available.
(e) Subsection (d) and this subsection expire September 1,
2017.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than December 1, 2015, the
commissioner of education shall adopt rules for the Texas Education
Agency to use to designate public high schools to participate in the
pilot program established under Subchapter A-1, Chapter 37,
Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2016, the Texas Education
Agency shall designate not more than two public high schools to
participate in the pilot program established under Subchapter A-1,
Chapter 37, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(c) The pilot program established under Subchapter A-1,
Chapter 37, Education Code, as added by this Act, shall be
implemented in each high school designated under that subchapter
beginning with the spring semester of the 2015-2016 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, 2015.