88(4) HB 43 - Introduced version - Bill Text

	By:  Toth	H.B.  No.  43

Statutes affected:
Introduced: ()

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to a public school classroom safety review and referral
	program for students who engage in violent criminal conduct;
	creating a criminal offense.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 37.088 to read as follows:
	Sec.  37.088.    CLASSROOM SAFETY REVIEW AND REFERRAL PROGRAM.
	(a) If, after an investigation is completed, the principal of a
	public primary or secondary school has reasonable grounds to
	believe that a student engaged in violent criminal conduct,
	including assaultive conduct, the principal shall:
	(1)    refer the student to the classroom safety review
	committee established under Subsection (b); or
	(2)    make a report to any school district police
	department, if applicable, or 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.
	(b)    Before the beginning of each school year, a public
	primary or secondary school shall establish a classroom safety
	review committee that consists of five classroom teachers who are
	selected from all classroom teachers employed by the school through
	a nomination and election process, as determined by the school.
	(c)    If a student is referred to the classroom safety review
	committee under Subsection (a)(1), the committee shall review all
	electronic, written, and verbal evidence or testimony or video
	provided to the committee and interview any eyewitnesses. After
	review, the committee shall, by majority vote, refer the student
	to:
	(1)    a person designated by the school as the juvenile
	diversion administrator under Subsection (d); or
	(2)    the classroom safety referral board established
	under Subsection (e).
	(d)    A public primary or secondary school shall designate a
	person as the juvenile diversion administrator for the school. If
	the classroom safety review committee refers a student to the
	juvenile diversion administrator under Subsection (c)(1), the
	juvenile diversion administrator shall:
	(1)    require the student to perform a certain number of
	hours of community service;
	(2)    require the student to participate in tutoring; or
	(3)    make a determination that the student is not
	required to take any additional actions.
	(e)    A public primary or secondary school shall establish a
	classroom safety referral board that consists of:
	(1)    two teachers who serve on the classroom safety
	review committee;
	(2)    an assistant district attorney of the county in
	which the school is located;
	(3)    an investigator from the sheriff's office in the
	county in which the school is located; and
	(4)    a parent of a student enrolled at the school
	selected by the board of trustees of the school district.
	(f)    If the classroom safety review committee refers a
	student to the classroom safety referral board, the board shall
	review all electronic, written, and verbal evidence or testimony or
	video provided to the board and may hear new testimony from the
	student or an eyewitness of the conduct. After review, the board, by
	majority vote, shall:
	(1)    report the student's conduct to the local law
	enforcement agency; or
	(2)    refer the student to the juvenile diversion
	administrator under Subsection (d).
	(g)    Materials and information provided to or produced by the
	classroom safety review committee or the classroom safety referral