Bill Text: TX SB47 | 2013 | 83rd Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the prevention of truancy and the offense of failure to attend school.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-06-21 - Filed [SB47 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-SB47-Introduced.html
| By: Whitmire | S.B. No. 47 | |
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| relating to the prevention of truancy and the offense of failure to | ||
| attend school. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subsection (i), Article 45.054, Code of Criminal | ||
| Procedure, is amended to read as follows: | ||
| (i) A county, justice, or municipal court shall dismiss the | ||
| complaint against an individual alleging that the individual | ||
| committed an offense under Section 25.094, Education Code, if: | ||
| (1) the court finds that the individual has | ||
| successfully complied with the conditions imposed on the individual | ||
| by the court under this article; or | ||
| (2) the individual presents to the court proof that | ||
| the individual has obtained a high school diploma or a high school | ||
| equivalency certificate after taking a high school equivalency | ||
| examination administered under Section 7.111, Education Code. | ||
| SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Article 45.055, Code of Criminal | ||
| Procedure, is amended to read as follows: | ||
| (e) A court shall expunge an individual's conviction under | ||
| Section 25.094, Education Code, and records relating to a | ||
| conviction, regardless of whether the individual has previously | ||
| been convicted of an offense under that section, if: | ||
| (1) the court finds that the individual has | ||
| successfully complied with the conditions imposed on the individual | ||
| by the court under Article 45.054; or | ||
| (2) before the individual's 21st birthday, the | ||
| individual presents to the court proof that the individual has | ||
| obtained a high school diploma or a high school equivalency | ||
| certificate after taking a high school equivalency examination | ||
| administered under Section 7.111, Education Code. | ||
| SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Article 45.056, Code of Criminal | ||
| Procedure, is amended to read as follows: | ||
| (a) On approval of the commissioners court, city council, | ||
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| appropriate authority, a county court, justice court, municipal | ||
| court, [ |
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| appropriate governmental entity may[ |
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| with Chapter 791, Government Code, with any appropriate | ||
| governmental entity to jointly employ a case manager or to jointly | ||
| contribute to the costs of a case manager employed by one | ||
| governmental entity to provide services in cases involving juvenile | ||
| offenders before a court consistent with the court's statutory | ||
| powers[ |
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| SECTION 4. Section 25.085, Education Code, is amended by | ||
| amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read | ||
| as follows: | ||
| (e) A person who voluntarily enrolls in school or | ||
| voluntarily attends school after the person's 18th birthday shall | ||
| attend school each school day for the entire period the program of | ||
| instruction is offered. A school district may revoke for the | ||
| remainder of the school year the enrollment of a person who has more | ||
| than five absences in a semester that are not excused under Section | ||
| 25.087, except that a school district may not revoke the enrollment | ||
| of a person under this subsection on a day on which the person is | ||
| physically present at school. A person whose enrollment is revoked | ||
| under this subsection may be considered an unauthorized person on | ||
| school district grounds for purposes of Section 37.107. | ||
| (g) After the third unexcused absence of a person described | ||
| by Subsection (e), a school district shall issue a warning letter to | ||
| the person that states the person's enrollment may be revoked for | ||
| the remainder of the school year if the person has more than five | ||
| unexcused absences in a semester. | ||
| (h) As an alternative to revoking a person's enrollment | ||
| under Subsection (e), a school district may impose a behavior | ||
| improvement plan described by Section 25.0915(b)(1). | ||
| SECTION 5. Section 25.0915, Education Code, is amended to | ||
| read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 25.0915. TRUANCY PREVENTION MEASURES; REFERRAL AND | ||
| FILING REQUIREMENT. (a) A school district shall adopt truancy | ||
| prevention measures designed to: | ||
| (1) address student conduct related to truancy in the | ||
| school setting before the student violates Section 25.094; | ||
| (2) minimize the need for referrals to juvenile court | ||
| for conduct described by Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code; and | ||
| (3) minimize the filing of complaints in county, | ||
| justice, and municipal courts alleging a violation of Section | ||
| 25.094. | ||
| (b) As a truancy prevention measure under Subsection (a), a | ||
| school district may take one or more of the following actions: | ||
| (1) impose: | ||
| (A) a behavior improvement plan on the student | ||
| that must be signed by an employee of the school, that the school | ||
| district has made a good faith effort to have signed by the student | ||
| and the student's parent or guardian, and that includes: | ||
| (i) a specific description of the behavior | ||
| that is required or prohibited for the student; | ||
| (ii) the period for which the plan will be | ||
| effective, not to exceed 45 school days after the date the contract | ||
| becomes effective; or | ||
| (iii) the penalties for additional | ||
| absences, including additional disciplinary action or the referral | ||
| of the student to a juvenile court; or | ||
| (B) school-based community service; or | ||
| (2) refer the student to counseling, community-based | ||
| services, or other in-school or out-of-school services aimed at | ||
| addressing the student's truancy. | ||
| (c) A referral made under Subsection (b)(2) may include | ||
| participation by the child's parent or guardian if necessary. | ||
| (d) Each referral to juvenile court for conduct described by | ||
| Section 51.03(b)(2), Family Code, or complaint filed in county, | ||
| justice, or municipal court alleging a violation by a student of | ||
| Section 25.094 must: | ||
| (1) be accompanied by a statement from the student's | ||
| school certifying that: | ||
| (A) the school applied the truancy prevention | ||
| measures adopted under Subsection (a) to the student; and | ||
| (B) the truancy prevention measures failed to | ||
| meaningfully address the student's school attendance; and | ||
| (2) specify whether the student is eligible for or | ||
| receives special education services under Subchapter A, Chapter 29. | ||
| (e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a school district | ||
| shall employ a truancy prevention facilitator to implement the | ||
| truancy prevention measures required by this section and any other | ||
| effective truancy prevention measures as determined by the school | ||
| district or campus. At least annually, the truancy prevention | ||
| facilitator shall meet to discuss effective truancy prevention | ||
| measures with a case manager or other individual designated by a | ||
| juvenile or criminal court to provide services to students of the | ||
| school district in truancy cases. | ||
| (f) Instead of employing a truancy prevention facilitator, | ||
| a school district may designate an existing district employee to | ||
| implement the truancy prevention measures required by this section | ||
| and any other effective truancy prevention measures as determined | ||
| by the school district or campus. | ||
| SECTION 6. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 25.0916 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 25.0916. UNIFORM TRUANCY POLICIES IN CERTAIN COUNTIES. | ||
| (a) This section applies only to a county: | ||
| (1) with a population greater than 1.5 million; and | ||
| (2) that includes at least: | ||
| (A) 15 school districts with the majority of | ||
| district territory in the county; and | ||
| (B) one school district with a student enrollment | ||
| of 50,000 or more and an annual dropout rate spanning grades 9-12 of | ||
| at least five percent, computed in accordance with standards and | ||
| definitions adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics | ||
| of the United States Department of Education. | ||
| (b) A committee shall be established to recommend a uniform | ||
| truancy policy for each school district located in the county. | ||
| (c) Not later than September 1, 2013, the county judge and | ||
| the mayor of the municipality in the county with the greatest | ||
| population shall each appoint one member to serve on the committee | ||
| as a representative of each of the following: | ||
| (1) a juvenile district court; | ||
| (2) a municipal court; | ||
| (3) the office of a justice of the peace; | ||
| (4) the superintendent or designee of an independent | ||
| school district; | ||
| (5) an open-enrollment charter school; | ||
| (6) the office of the district attorney; and | ||
| (7) the general public. | ||
| (d) Not later than September 1, 2013, the county judge shall | ||
| appoint to serve on the committee one member from the house of | ||
| representatives and one member from the senate who are members of | ||
| the respective standing legislative committees with primary | ||
| jurisdiction over public education. | ||
| (e) The county judge and mayor of the municipality in the | ||
| county with the greatest population shall: | ||
| (1) both serve on the committee or appoint | ||
| representatives to serve on their behalf; and | ||
| (2) jointly appoint a member of the committee to serve | ||
| as the presiding officer. | ||
| (f) Not later than September 1, 2014, the committee shall | ||
| recommend: | ||
| (1) a uniform process for filing truancy cases with | ||
| the judicial system; | ||
| (2) uniform administrative procedures; | ||
| (3) uniform deadlines for processing truancy cases; | ||
| (4) effective prevention, intervention, and diversion | ||
| methods to reduce truancy and referrals to a county, justice, or | ||
| municipal court; | ||
| (5) a system for tracking truancy information and | ||
| sharing truancy information among school districts and | ||
| open-enrollment charter schools in the county; and | ||
| (6) any changes to statutes or state agency rules the | ||
| committee determines are necessary to address truancy. | ||
| (g) Compliance with the committee recommendations is | ||
| voluntary. | ||
| (h) The committee's presiding officer shall issue a report | ||
| not later than December 1, 2015, on the implementation of the | ||
| recommendations and compliance with state truancy laws by a school | ||
| district located in the county. | ||
| (i) This section expires January 1, 2016. | ||
| SECTION 7. Subsection (e), Section 25.094, Education Code, | ||
| is amended to read as follows: | ||
| (e) An offense under this section is a [ |
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| punishable by a fine not to exceed: | ||
| (1) $100 for a first offense; | ||
| (2) $200 for a second offense; | ||
| (3) $300 for a third offense; | ||
| (4) $400 for a fourth offense; or | ||
| (5) $500 for a fifth or subsequent offense. | ||
| SECTION 8. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 25.0951, | ||
| Education Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
| (a) If a student fails to attend school without excuse on 10 | ||
| or more days or parts of days within a six-month period in the same | ||
| school year, a school district shall within 10 school days of the | ||
| student's 10th absence: | ||
| (1) file a complaint against the student or the | ||
| student's parent or, if the district provides evidence that both | ||
| the student and the student's parent contributed to the student's | ||
| failure to attend school, both the student and the parent in a | ||
| county, justice, or municipal court for an offense under Section | ||
| 25.093 or 25.094, as appropriate, or refer the student to a juvenile | ||
| court in a county with a population of less than 100,000 for conduct | ||
| that violates Section 25.094; or | ||
| (2) refer the student to a juvenile court for conduct | ||
| indicating a need for supervision under Section 51.03(b)(2), Family | ||
| Code. | ||
| (b) If a student fails to attend school without excuse on | ||
| three or more days or parts of days within a four-week period but | ||
| does not fail to attend school for the time described by Subsection | ||
| (a), the school district may: | ||
| (1) file a complaint against the student or the | ||
| student's parent or, if the district provides evidence that both | ||
| the student and the student's parent contributed to the student's | ||
| failure to attend school, both the student and the parent in a | ||
| county, justice, or municipal court for an offense under Section | ||
| 25.093 or 25.094, as appropriate, or refer the student to a juvenile | ||
| court in a county with a population of less than 100,000 for conduct | ||
| that violates Section 25.094; or | ||
| (2) refer the student to a juvenile court for conduct | ||
| indicating a need for supervision under Section 51.03(b)(2), Family | ||
| Code. | ||
| SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
| conduct violating Section 25.094, Education Code, on or after the | ||
| effective date of this Act. A violation that occurs before the | ||
| effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the | ||
| violation occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for | ||
| that purpose. For purposes of this section, a violation occurs | ||
| before the effective date of this Act if any element of the | ||
| violation occurs before that date. | ||
| SECTION 10. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the | ||
| last day of the legislative session. | ||
