By: Cortez	H.B. No. 4044

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the application of discipline to certain students with
	autism or another pervasive developmental disorder.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 37.001, 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;
	(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; [and]
	(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)  provide for the notification of parents of
	students with autism or another pervasive developmental disorder
	before beginning the disciplinary process contained in this
	Subchapter.
	(b)  In this section:
	(1)  "Bullying" has the meaning assigned by Section
	37.0832.
	(2)  "Harassment" means threatening to cause harm or
	bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating
	conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another
	student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or
	restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially
	harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety.
	(3)  "Hit list" means a list of people targeted to be
	harmed, using:
	(A)  a firearm, as defined by Section 46.01(3),
	Penal Code;
	(B)  a knife, as defined by Section 46.01(7),
	Penal Code; or
	(C)  any other object to be used with intent to
	cause bodily harm.
	(b-1)  The methods adopted under Subsection (a)(8) must
	provide that a student who is enrolled in a special education
	program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, may not be disciplined for
	conduct prohibited in accordance with Subsection (a)(7) until an
	admission, review, and dismissal committee meeting has been held to
	review the conduct.
	(c)  Once the student code of conduct is promulgated, any
	change or amendment must be approved by the board of trustees.
	(d)  Each school year, a school district shall provide
	parents notice of and information regarding the student code of
	conduct.
	(e)  Except as provided by Section 37.007(e), this
	subchapter does not require the student code of conduct to specify a
	minimum term of a removal under Section 37.006 or an expulsion under
	Section 37.007.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.