By: West	S.B. No. 424
	(In the Senate - Filed January 23, 2019; February 14, 2019,
	read first time and referred to Committee on Education;
	April 3, 2019, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 11,
	Nays 0; April 3, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to determining appropriate disciplinary action to be taken
	against a public school student who is in foster care or who is
	homeless.
	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; [or]
	(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; and
	(B)  an expulsion under Section 37.007;
	(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.  Section 37.001(b), Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
	(4)  "Student who is homeless" has the meaning assigned
	to the term "homeless children and youths" under 42 U.S.C. Section
	11434a.
	SECTION 3.  This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
	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, 2019.
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