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
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  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,
  [school district board of trustees,] juvenile board, or other
  appropriate authority, a county court, justice court, municipal
  court, [school district,] juvenile probation department, or other
  appropriate governmental entity may[:
               [(1)]  employ a case manager or agree, in accordance
  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[; or
               [(2)     agree in accordance with Chapter 791, Government
  Code, to jointly employ a case manager].
         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 [Class C] misdemeanor
  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.
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