Re: School Safety and Security

September 19, 2007

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

Re: School Safety and Security

This letter highlights several important issues regarding changes in the standard operation of Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement campuses and the evaluation of students who are assigned to these campuses for a period of 90 days or more. It is our plan to periodically provide information regarding school safety and security in this manner. We hope you will find the following information helpful as you begin the 2007-2008 school year. Many of these topics outlined below are covered in Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code.

Bill NumberHB 426

Statute Amended or Added:Texas Education Code (TEC) §37.008 (Amended)

HB 426 provides more specific minimum standards for Discipline Alternative Education Programs (DAEP) in order to ensure a quality education for students enrolled in those programs. Districts with DAEPs will be required to employ only teachers who meet all certification requirements established under Subchapter B (Certification of Educators), TEC, Chapter 21 (Educators) and provide not less than the minimum amount of instructional time per day as required by TEC §25.082(a) (Relating to a requirement that a school day be at least seven hours each day).

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) must adopt minimum standards for the operation of DAEPs. These include student to teacher ratios, student health and safety, reporting of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of students, and planning for a student’s transition from a DAEP to a regular campus. These standard operation rules are currently in draft form and will be available for public comment in January 2008.

Bill NumberHB2532

Statute Amended or Added:Texas Education Code (TEC) §37.0081 (Amended)

HB 2532 amends TEC §37.0081 and gives the board of trustees of a school district the option to expel a student and place the student in an alternative setting if the student is not under court supervision. This bill also gives the board of trustees the option to expel a student charged with a Title 5 felony regardless of whether the incident occurred on or off school property if the student:

• has received deferred prosecution under Texas Family Code §53.03;
• has been found by a court or jury to have engaged in delinquent conduct under the Texas Family Code §53.03;
• is charged with engaging in conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5 (Offenses Against the Person), Texas Penal Code;
• has been referred to a juvenile court for allegedly engaging in delinquent conduct under the Texas Family Code §54.03;
• has received probation or deferred adjudication for a Title 5 Felony; or
• has been arrested for or charged with a Title 5 Felony.

Expelled students must be placed in a juvenile justice alternative education program (JJAEP), if the district is located in a county that operates a JJAEP or when the district contracts with the juvenile board of another county for the provision of the JJAEP or in a disciplinary alternative education program.The board of trustees shall reimburse a JJAEP in which a student is placed under this section for the actual cost incurred each day. The juvenile board of the county operating the program shall determine the actual cost per day.

A student placed in an alternative setting under this section is entitled to the periodic review and assessment of his/her academic growth. The district must administer, initially on placement and subsequently on the date of the student’s departure from the program, to each student placed for a period of 90 school days or longer an assessment instrument approved by the Commissioner of Education. The assessment is in addition to the assessment instruments required to be administered in TEC Chapter 39. The assessment must be designed to assess at least a student’s basic skills in reading and mathematics and may be comparable to any assessment instrument generally administered to students placed in JJAEP for a similar purpose or based on an appropriate alternative assessment instrument developed by the agency to measure student academic growth.

HB2532 also addresses the placement of students who are currently registered sex offenders under Chapter 62, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The language separates the registered sex offenders into two categories: (1) those that are under any form of court supervision including probation, community supervision, or parole and (2) those that are not under any form of court supervision. The provisions do not apply to the students who are no longer required to register as sex offenders and to those exempt from registration. The district must remove any student registered as a sex offender with court supervision from regular classes, for a period of not less than one semester, and determine the appropriate alternative education program placement of the student as either a JJAEP or DAEP. If the student registered as a sex offender is not under court order the district has the option to remove the student from regular classes, for a period of not less than one semester, and determine the appropriate alternative education program placement of the student as either a JJAEP or DAEP, or allow the student to attend regular classes. However, to allow the student to remain in regular classes the district board of trustees must determine that the student’s presence in the regular classroom does not threaten the safety of other students or teachers, will not be detrimental to the educational process, or is in the best interest of thedistrict.

At the end of the first semester of any student’s placement in a alternative program under this section, the district board of trustees shall convene a committee composed of: (1) a classroom teacher from the campus to which the student should be assigned,

(2) student’s parole or probation officer or in the case of a student who does have a parole or probation officer, (3) a representative of the local juvenile probation department to review the student’s placement, (4) an instructor from the alternative education program to which the student is assigned, (5) school district designee, and (6) a counselor employed by the district. The committee by majority vote shall recommend whether the student should be returned to the regular classroom or remain in the alternative education program. The board may over turnthe committee’s decision to return the student to the classroom if they determine the student’s presence threatens the safety of other students or teachers, will be detrimental to the educational process or is not in the best interest of the district’s students. Further, the board may overrule the committee’s decision to leave the student in the program if they determine that the student’s presence in the regular classroom does not threaten the safety of other students or teachers, will not be detrimental to the educational process or is in the best interests of the district’s students. When a committee or board review determines that the student should remain in the alternative education program after a review, before the beginning of each school year the board must convene the committee to reevaluate the student’s alternative placement.

Students with a disability must be placed in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The placement review must be conducted by a duly constituted admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee. The ARD committee may request that the board convene a formal review committee to assist the ARD committee in conducting the review.

Please be aware that the HB2532 provisions relating to the placement of registered sex offenders apply only to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2007. Students should be placed in accordance with prior law and local policy for sex offender status that is based on an offense before that date. The bill’s requirement to remove students under TEC§37.0081 beginsimmediately with the 2007-2008 school year regardless of the date of the offense.

Please assist us in ensuring that all students receive the appropriate instruction by adhering to the newly amended laws.Additional information on Discipline Alternative Education Programs can be found on the program website If you have any questions, please contact Priscilla Flores at (512) 463- 5899 or email at .

Thank you in advance for your assistance and action.

Sincerely,

Adrain Johnson, Ed.D.
Associate Commissioner

School District Services