(a) A disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) established in conformance with the Texas Education Code (TEC), § 37.008, and this section is defined as an educational and self-discipline alternative instructional program, adopted by local policy, for students in elementary through high school grades who are removed from their regular classes for mandatory or discretionary disciplinary reasons and placed in a DAEP. (b) Each school district participating in a shared services arrangement (SSA) for DAEP services shall be responsible for ensuring that the board-approved district improvement plan and the improvement plans for each campus required by the TEC, § 11.251 and § 11.252, include the performance of the DAEP student group for the respective district. The identified objectives for the improvement plans shall include: (1) student groups served, including overrepresentation of students from economically disadvantaged families, with ethnic and racial representations, and with a disability who receive special education and limited English proficiency services; (2) attendance rates; (3) pre- and post-assessment results; (4) dropout rates; (5) graduation rates; and (6) recidivism rates. (c) A DAEP may be located on-campus or off-campus in adherence with requirements specified in § 129.1025 of this title (relating to Adoption By Reference: Student Attendance Accounting Handbook). For reporting purposes, the DAEP shall use the county-district-campus number of the student's locally assigned campus (the campus the student would be attending if the student was not attending the DAEP). (d) An individual school district or an SSA may contract with third parties for DAEP services. The district must require and ensure compliance with district responsibilities that are transferred to the third-party provider. (e) The campus of accountability for student performance must be the student's locally assigned campus, including when the individual school district or SSA contracts with a third party for DAEP services. (f) Each school district shall provide an academic and self-discipline program that leads to graduation and includes instruction in each student's currently enrolled foundation curriculum necessary to meet the student's individual graduation plan, including special education services. (1) A student's four-year graduation plan (minimum, recommended, or distinguished achievement--advanced) may not be altered when the student is assigned to a DAEP. A student must be offered an opportunity to complete a foundation curriculum course in which the student was enrolled at the time of removal before the beginning of the next school year, including correspondence or distance learning opportunities or summer school. A district may not charge for a course required under this section. (2) The school day for a DAEP shall be at least seven hours but no more than ten hours in length each day, including intermissions and recesses as required under the TEC, § 25.082(a). (3) Notwithstanding the TEC, § 37.008(a)(3), summer programs provided by the district may serve students assigned to a DAEP in conjunction with other students, as determined by local policy. (g) A DAEP program serving a student with a disability who receives special education services shall provide educational services that will support the student in meeting the goals identified in the individualized education program (IEP) established by a duly-constituted admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee, in accordance with the TEC, § 37.004, and federal requirements. (h) Each school district is responsible for the safety and supervision of the students assigned to the DAEP; however, the immunity from the liability established in the TEC, § 22.0511, shall not be impacted. (1) The certified teacher-to-student ratio in a DAEP shall be one teacher for each 15 students in elementary through high school grades. Elementary grade students assigned to the DAEP shall be separated from secondary grade students assigned to the DAEP. The designation of elementary and secondary will be determined by adopted local policy. (2) The DAEP staff shall be prepared and trained to respond to health issues and emergencies. (3) Students in the DAEP shall be separated from students in a juvenile justice alternative education program (JJAEP) and students who are not assigned to the DAEP. (4) Each district shall establish a board-approved policy for discipline and intervention measures to prevent and intervene against unsafe behavior and include disciplinary actions that do not jeopardize students' physical health and safety, harm emotional well-being, or discourage physical activity. (i) Staff at each DAEP shall participate in training programs on education, behavior management, and safety procedures that focus on positive and proactive behavior management strategies. The training programs must also target prevention and intervention that include: (1) training on the education and discipline of students with disabilities who receive special education services; (2) instruction in social skills and problem-solving skills that addresses diversity, dating violence, anger management, and conflict resolution to teach students how to interact with teachers, family, peers, authority figures, and the general public; and (3) annual training on established procedures for reporting abuse, neglect, or exploitation of students. (j) Procedures for each DAEP shall be developed and implemented for newly-entering students and their parents or guardians on the expectations of the DAEP, including written contracts between students, parents or guardians, and the DAEP that formalize expectations and establish the students' individual plans for success. (k) The transition procedures established for a student who is exiting a DAEP and returning to the student's locally assigned campus shall be implemented and updated annually as needed. The transition procedures shall include: (1) an established timeline for the student's transition from the DAEP to the student's locally assigned campus; and (2) written and oral communication from the DAEP staff to the locally assigned campus during the student's assignment to the DAEP, including the student's educational performance and tasks completed.

(k) A program of educational and support services may be provided to a student and the student’s parents when the offense involves drugs or alcohol as specified under Section 37.006 or 37.007. A disciplinary alternative education program that provides chemical dependency treatment services must be licensed under Chapter 464, Health and Safety Code.

(l) A school district is required to provide in the district’s disciplinary alternative education program a course necessary to fulfill a student’s high school graduation requirements only as provided by this subsection. A school district shall offer a student removed to a disciplinary alternative education program an opportunity to complete coursework before the beginning of the next school year. The school district may provide the student an opportunity to complete coursework through any method available, including a correspondence course, distance learning, or summer school. The district may not charge the student for a course provided under this subsection.

(l-1) A school district shall provide the parents of a student removed to a disciplinary alternative education program with written notice of the district’s obligation under Subsection (l) to provide the student with an opportunity to complete coursework required for graduation. The notice must:

• (1) include information regarding all methods available for completing the coursework; and

• (2) state that the methods are available at no cost to the student.

(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 Standard 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; (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).

(a) A teacher may send a student to the campus behavior coordinator’s office to maintain effective discipline in the classroom. The campus behavior coordinator shall respond by employing appropriate discipline management techniques consistent with the student code of conduct adopted under Section 37.001 that can reasonably be expected to improve the student’s behavior before returning the student to the classroom. If the student’s behavior does not improve, the campus behavior coordinator shall employ alternative discipline management techniques, including any progressive interventions designated as the responsibility of the campus behavior coordinator in the student code of conduct. (b) A teacher may remove from class a student: (1) who has been documented by the teacher to repeatedly interfere with the teacher’s ability to communicate effectively with the students in the class or with the ability of the student’s classmates to learn; or (2) whose behavior the teacher determines is so unruly, disruptive, or abusive that it seriously interferes with the teacher’s ability to communicate effectively with the students in the class or with the ability of the student’s classmates to learn. (b-1) A teacher may document any conduct by a student that does not conform to the student code of conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and may submit that documentation to the principal. A school district may not discipline a teacher on the basis of documentation submitted under this subsection. (c) If a teacher removes a student from class under Subsection (b), the principal may place the student into another appropriate classroom, into in-school suspension, or into a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008. The principal may not return the student to that teacher’s class without the teacher’s consent unless the committee established under Section 37.003 determines that such placement is the best or only alternative available. The terms of the removal may prohibit the student from attending or participating in school-sponsored or school-related activity. (d) A teacher shall remove from class and send to the principal for placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or for expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in conduct described under Section 37.006 or 37.007. The student may not be returned to that teacher’s class without the teacher’s consent unless the committee established under Section 37.003 determines that such placement is the best or only alternative available. If the teacher removed the student from class because the student has engaged in the elements of any offense listed in Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or Section 37.007(a)(2)(A) or (b)(2)(C) against the teacher, the student may not be returned to the teacher’s class without the teacher’s consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent. (e) A student who is sent to the campus behavior coordinator’s or other administrator’s office under Subsection (a) or removed from class under Subsection (b) is not considered to have been removed from the classroom for the purposes of reporting data through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) or other similar reports required by state or federal law.

(e) A school district shall provide to a student during the period of the student’s suspension under this section, regardless of whether the student is placed in in-school or out-of-school suspension, an alternative means of receiving all course work provided in the classes in the foundation curriculum under Section 28.002(a)(1) that the student misses as a result of the suspension. The district must provide at least one option for receiving the course work that does not require the use of the Internet.

(a) In this section: (1) “Bullying” has the meaning assigned by Section 37.0832. (2) “Intimate visual material” has the meaning assigned by Section 98B.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code. (b) A student may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008 or expelled if the student: (1) engages in bullying that encourages a student to commit or attempt to commit suicide; (2) incites violence against a student through group bullying; or (3) releases or threatens to release intimate visual material of a minor or a student who is 18 years of age or older without the student’s consent. (c) Nothing in this section exempts a school from reporting a finding of intimate visual material of a minor.

(a) A student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the student: (1) engages in conduct involving a public school that contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal Code; or (2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of school property, as measured from any point on the school’s real property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school property: (A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony; (B) engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code; (C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person or possesses or uses or is under the influence of: (i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.; or (ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code; (D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence of an alcoholic beverage; (E) engages in conduct that contains the elements of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code; (F) engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code, or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code; or (G) engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), (2), (3), or (7), Penal Code, against an employee of the school district. (b) Except as provided by Section 37.007(d), a student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student engages in conduct on or off of school property that contains the elements of the offense of retaliation under Section 36.06, Penal Code, against any school employee. (c) In addition to Subsections (a) and (b), a student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity if: (1) the student receives deferred prosecution under Section 53.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as: (A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or (B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code; (2) a court or jury finds that the student has engaged in delinquent conduct under Section 54.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as: (A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or (B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code; or (3) the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in a conduct defined as: (A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or (B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code. (d) In addition to Subsections (a), (b), and (c), a student may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity if: (1) the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense other than aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code, or those offenses defined in Title 5, Penal Code; and (2) the continued presence of the student in the regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or teachers or will be detrimental to the educational process. (e) In determining whether there is a reasonable belief that a student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense by the Penal Code, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee may consider all available information, including the information furnished under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, other than information requested under Article 15.27(k-1), Code of Criminal Procedure. (f) Subject to Section 37.007(e), a student who is younger than 10 years of age shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student engages in conduct described by Section 37.007. An elementary school student may not be placed in a disciplinary alternative education program with any other student who is not an elementary school student. (g) The terms of a placement under this section must prohibit the student from attending or participating in a school-sponsored or school-related activity. (h) On receipt of notice under Article 15.27(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee shall review the student’s placement in the disciplinary alternative education program. The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the review. The superintendent or the superintendent’s designee shall schedule a review of the student’s placement with the student’s parent or guardian not later than the third class day after the superintendent or superintendent’s designee receives notice from the office or official designated by the court. After reviewing the notice and receiving information from the student’s parent or guardian, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee may continue the student’s placement in the disciplinary alternative education program if there is reason to believe that the presence of the student in the regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or teachers. (i) The student or the student’s parent or guardian may appeal the superintendent’s decision under Subsection (h) to the board of trustees. The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the appeal. The board shall, at the next scheduled meeting, review the notice provided under Article 15.27(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, and receive information from the student, the student’s parent or guardian, and the superintendent or superintendent’s designee and confirm or reverse the decision under Subsection (h). The board shall make a record of the proceedings. If the board confirms the decision of the superintendent or superintendent’s designee, the board shall inform the student and the student’s parent or guardian of the right to appeal to the commissioner under Subsection (j). (j) Notwithstanding Section 7.057(e), the decision of the board of trustees under Subsection (i) may be appealed to the commissioner as provided by Sections 7.057(b), (c), (d), and (f). The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the appeal. (k) Subsections (h), (i), and (j) do not apply to placements made in accordance with Subsection (a). (l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, other than Section 37.007(e)(2), a student who is younger than six years of age may not be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program. (m) Removal to a disciplinary alternative education program under Subsection (a) is not required if the student is expelled under Section 37.007 for the same conduct for which removal would be required. (n) A principal or other appropriate administrator may but is not required to remove a student to a disciplinary alternative education program for off-campus conduct for which removal is required under this section if the principal or other appropriate administrator does not have knowledge of the conduct before the first anniversary of the date the conduct occurred. (o) In addition to any notice required under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, a principal or a principal’s designee shall inform each educator who has responsibility for, or is under the direction and supervision of an educator who has responsibility for, the instruction of a student who has engaged in any violation listed in this section of the student’s misconduct. Each educator shall keep the information received under this subsection confidential from any person not entitled to the information under this subsection, except that the educator may share the information with the student’s parent or guardian as provided for by state or federal law. The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or suspend the certification of an educator who intentionally violates this subsection.(a) A student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008 if the student: (1) engages in conduct involving a public school that contains the elements of the offense of false alarm or report under Section 42.06, Penal Code, or terroristic threat under Section 22.07, Penal Code; or (2) commits the following on or within 300 feet of school property, as measured from any point on the school’s real property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school property: (A) engages in conduct punishable as a felony; (B) engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of assault under Section 22.01(a)(1), Penal Code; (C) sells, gives, or delivers to another person or possesses or uses or is under the influence of: (i) marihuana or a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.; or (ii) a dangerous drug, as defined by Chapter 483, Health and Safety Code; (D) sells, gives, or delivers to another person an alcoholic beverage, as defined by Section 1.04, Alcoholic Beverage Code, commits a serious act or offense while under the influence of alcohol, or possesses, uses, or is under the influence of an alcoholic beverage; (E) engages in conduct that contains the elements of an offense relating to an abusable volatile chemical under Sections 485.031 through 485.034, Health and Safety Code; (F) engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of public lewdness under Section 21.07, Penal Code, or indecent exposure under Section 21.08, Penal Code; or (G) engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of harassment under Section 42.07(a)(1), (2), (3), or (7), Penal Code, against an employee of the school district. (b) Except as provided by Section 37.007(d), a student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student engages in conduct on or off of school property that contains the elements of the offense of retaliation under Section 36.06, Penal Code, against any school employee. (c) In addition to Subsections (a) and (b), a student shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity if: (1) the student receives deferred prosecution under Section 53.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as: (A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or (B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code; (2) a court or jury finds that the student has engaged in delinquent conduct under Section 54.03, Family Code, for conduct defined as: (A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or (B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code; or (3) the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in a conduct defined as: (A) a felony offense in Title 5, Penal Code; or (B) the felony offense of aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code. (d) In addition to Subsections (a), (b), and (c), a student may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity if: (1) the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense other than aggravated robbery under Section 29.03, Penal Code, or those offenses defined in Title 5, Penal Code; and (2) the continued presence of the student in the regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or teachers or will be detrimental to the educational process. (e) In determining whether there is a reasonable belief that a student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense by the Penal Code, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee may consider all available information, including the information furnished under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, other than information requested under Article 15.27(k-1), Code of Criminal Procedure. (f) Subject to Section 37.007(e), a student who is younger than 10 years of age shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 if the student engages in conduct described by Section 37.007. An elementary school student may not be placed in a disciplinary alternative education program with any other student who is not an elementary school student. (g) The terms of a placement under this section must prohibit the student from attending or participating in a school-sponsored or school-related activity. (h) On receipt of notice under Article 15.27(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee shall review the student’s placement in the disciplinary alternative education program. The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the review. The superintendent or the superintendent’s designee shall schedule a review of the student’s placement with the student’s parent or guardian not later than the third class day after the superintendent or superintendent’s designee receives notice from the office or official designated by the court. After reviewing the notice and receiving information from the student’s parent or guardian, the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee may continue the student’s placement in the disciplinary alternative education program if there is reason to believe that the presence of the student in the regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or teachers. (i) The student or the student’s parent or guardian may appeal the superintendent’s decision under Subsection (h) to the board of trustees. The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the appeal. The board shall, at the next scheduled meeting, review the notice provided under Article 15.27(g), Code of Criminal Procedure, and receive information from the student, the student’s parent or guardian, and the superintendent or superintendent’s designee and confirm or reverse the decision under Subsection (h). The board shall make a record of the proceedings. If the board confirms the decision of the superintendent or superintendent’s designee, the board shall inform the student and the student’s parent or guardian of the right to appeal to the commissioner under Subsection (j). (j) Notwithstanding Section 7.057(e), the decision of the board of trustees under Subsection (i) may be appealed to the commissioner as provided by Sections 7.057(b), (c), (d), and (f). The student may not be returned to the regular classroom pending the appeal. (k) Subsections (h), (i), and (j) do not apply to placements made in accordance with Subsection (a). (l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, other than Section 37.007(e)(2), a student who is younger than six years of age may not be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program. (m) Removal to a disciplinary alternative education program under Subsection (a) is not required if the student is expelled under Section 37.007 for the same conduct for which removal would be required. (n) A principal or other appropriate administrator may but is not required to remove a student to a disciplinary alternative education program for off-campus conduct for which removal is required under this section if the principal or other appropriate administrator does not have knowledge of the conduct before the first anniversary of the date the conduct occurred. (o) In addition to any notice required under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, a principal or a principal’s designee shall inform each educator who has responsibility for, or is under the direction and supervision of an educator who has responsibility for, the instruction of a student who has engaged in any violation listed in this section of the student’s misconduct. Each educator shall keep the information received under this subsection confidential from any person not entitled to the information under this subsection, except that the educator may share the information with the student’s parent or guardian as provided for by state or federal law. The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or suspend the certification of an educator who intentionally violates this subsection.

(a-1) The student must be placed in:

• a juvenile justice alternative education program, if the school district is located in a county that operates a juvenile justice alternative education program or the school district contracts with the juvenile board of another county for the provision of a juvenile justice alternative education program; or

• (2) a disciplinary alternative education program.

(d) The board or the board’s designee shall set a term for a student’s placement in a disciplinary alternative education program. If the period of the placement is inconsistent with the guidelines included in the student code of conduct under Section 37.001(a)(5), the order must give notice of the inconsistency. The period of the placement may not exceed one year unless, after a review, the district determines that: (1) the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to district employees; or (2) extended placement is in the best interest of the student. (e) A student placed in a disciplinary alternative education program shall be provided a review of the student’s status, including a review of the student’s academic status, by the board’s designee at intervals not to exceed 120 days. In the case of a high school student, the board’s designee, with the student’s parent or guardian, shall review the student’s progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The district is not required under this subsection to provide a course in the district’s disciplinary alternative education program except as required by Section 37.008(l). At the review, the student or the student’s parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to present arguments for the student’s return to the regular classroom or campus. The student may not be returned to the classroom of the teacher who removed the student without that teacher’s consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent. (f) Before a student may be expelled under Section 37.007, the board or the board’s designee must provide the student a hearing at which the student is afforded appropriate due process as required by the federal constitution and which the student’s parent or guardian is invited, in writing, to attend. At the hearing, the student is entitled to be represented by the student’s parent or guardian or another adult who can provide guidance to the student and who is not an employee of the school district. If the school district makes a good-faith effort to inform the student and the student’s parent or guardian of the time and place of the hearing, the district may hold the hearing regardless of whether the student, the student’s parent or guardian, or another adult representing the student attends. Before ordering the expulsion of a student, the board of trustees must consider whether the student acted in self-defense, the intent or lack of intent at the time the student engaged in the conduct, the student’s disciplinary history, and whether the student has a disability that substantially impairs the student’s capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student’s conduct, regardless of whether the decision of the board concerns a mandatory or discretionary action. If the decision to expel a student is made by the board’s designee, the decision may be appealed to the board. The decision of the board may be appealed by trial de novo to a district court of the county in which the school district’s central administrative office is located. (g) The board or the board’s designee shall deliver to the student and the student’s parent or guardian a copy of the order placing the student in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.001, 37.002, or 37.006 or expelling the student under Section 37.007. [...] (i) If a student withdraws from the district before an order for placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or expulsion is entered under this section, the principal or board, as appropriate, may complete the proceedings and enter an order. If the student subsequently enrolls in the district during the same or subsequent school year, the district may enforce the order at that time except for any period of the placement or expulsion that has been served by the student on enrollment in another district that honored the order. If the principal or board fails to enter an order after the student withdraws, the next district in which the student enrolls may complete the proceedings and enter an order. (j) If, during the term of a placement or expulsion ordered under this section, a student engages in additional conduct for which placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or expulsion is required or permitted, additional proceedings may be conducted under this section regarding that conduct and the principal or board, as appropriate, may enter an additional order as a result of those proceedings.

(a) The juvenile board of a county with a population greater than 125,000 shall develop a juvenile justice alternative education program, subject to the approval of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. The juvenile board of a county with a population of 125,000 or less may develop a juvenile justice alternative education program. For the purposes of this subchapter, only a disciplinary alternative education program operated under the authority of a juvenile board of a county is considered a juvenile justice alternative education program. A juvenile justice alternative education program in a county with a population of 125,000 or less: (1) is not required to be approved by the department; and (2) is not subject to Subsection (c), (d), (f), or (g). (a-1) For purposes of this section and Section 37.010(a), a county with a population greater than 125,000 is considered to be a county with a population of 125,000 or less if: (1) the county had a population of 125,000 or less according to the 2000 federal census; and (2) the juvenile board of the county enters into, with the approval of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, a memorandum of understanding with each school district within the county that: (A) outlines the responsibilities of the board and school districts in minimizing the number of students expelled without receiving alternative educational services; and (B) includes the coordination procedures required by Section 37.013. (a-2) For purposes of this section and Section 37.010(a), a county with a population greater than 125,000 is considered to be a county with a population of 125,000 or less if the county: (1) has a population of 180,000 or less; (2) is adjacent to two counties, each of which has a population of more than 1.7 million; and (3) has seven or more school districts located wholly within the county’s boundaries. (a-3) For purposes of this section and Section 37.010(a), a county with a population greater than 125,000 is considered to be a county with a population of 125,000 or less if the county: (1) has a population of more than 200,000 and less than 220,000; (2) has five or more school districts located wholly within the county’s boundaries; and (3) has located in the county a juvenile justice alternative education program that, on May 1, 2011, served fewer than 15 students. (a-4) A school district located in a county considered to be a county with a population of 125,000 or less under Subsection (a-3) shall provide educational services to a student who is expelled from school under this chapter. The district is entitled to count the student in the district’s average daily attendance for purposes of receipt of state funds under the Foundation School Program. An educational placement under this section may include: (1) the district’s disciplinary alternative education program; or (2) a contracted placement with: (A) another school district; (B) an open-enrollment charter school; (C) an institution of higher education; (D) an adult literacy council; or (E) a community organization that can provide an educational program that allows the student to complete the credits required for high school graduation. (a-5) For purposes of Subsection (a-4), an educational placement other than a school district’s disciplinary alternative education program is subject to the educational and certification requirements applicable to an open-enrollment charter school under Subchapter D, Chapter 12. (b) If a student admitted into the public schools of a school district under Section 25.001(b) is expelled from school for conduct for which expulsion is required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e), or for conduct that contains the elements of the offense of terroristic threat as described by Section 22.07(c-1), (d), or (e), Penal Code, the juvenile court, the juvenile board, or the juvenile board’s designee, as appropriate, shall: (1) if the student is placed on probation under Section 54.04, Family Code, order the student to attend the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in which the student resides from the date of disposition as a condition of probation, unless the child is placed in a post-adjudication treatment facility; (2) if the student is placed on deferred prosecution under Section 53.03, Family Code, by the court, prosecutor, or probation department, require the student to immediately attend the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in which the student resides for a period not to exceed six months as a condition of the deferred prosecution; (3) in determining the conditions of the deferred prosecution or court-ordered probation, consider the length of the school district’s expulsion order for the student; and (4) provide timely educational services to the student in the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county in which the student resides, regardless of the student’s age or whether the juvenile court has jurisdiction over the student. (b-1) Subsection (b)(4) does not require that educational services be provided to a student who is not entitled to admission into the public schools of a school district under Section 25.001(b). (c) A juvenile justice alternative education program shall adopt a student code of conduct in accordance with Section 37.001. (d) A juvenile justice alternative education program must focus on English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and self-discipline. Each school district shall consider course credit earned by a student while in a juvenile justice alternative education program as credit earned in a district school. Each program shall administer assessment instruments under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and shall offer a high school equivalency program. The juvenile board or the board’s designee, with the parent or guardian of each student, shall regularly review the student’s academic progress. In the case of a high school student, the board or the board’s designee, with the student’s parent or guardian, shall review the student’s progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The program is not required to provide a course necessary to fulfill a student’s high school graduation requirements other than a course specified by this subsection. (e) A juvenile justice alternative education program may be provided in a facility owned by a school district. A school district may provide personnel and services for a juvenile justice alternative education program under a contract with the juvenile board. (f) A juvenile justice alternative education program must operate at least seven hours per day and 180 days per year, except that a program may apply to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department for a waiver of the 180-day requirement. The department may not grant a waiver to a program under this subsection for a number of days that exceeds the highest number of instructional days waived by the commissioner during the same school year for a school district served by the program. (g) A juvenile justice alternative education program shall be subject to a written operating policy developed by the local juvenile justice board and submitted to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department for review and comment. A juvenile justice alternative education program is not subject to a requirement imposed by this title, other than a reporting requirement or a requirement imposed by this chapter or by Chapter 39 or 39A. (h) Academically, the mission of juvenile justice alternative education programs shall be to enable students to perform at grade level. For purposes of accountability under Chapters 39 and 39A, a student enrolled in a juvenile justice alternative education program is reported as if the student were enrolled at the student’s assigned campus in the student’s regularly assigned education program, including a special education program. Annually the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, with the agreement of the commissioner, shall develop and implement a system of accountability consistent with Chapters 39 and 39A, where appropriate, to assure that students make progress toward grade level while attending a juvenile justice alternative education program. The department shall adopt rules for the distribution of funds appropriated under this section to juvenile boards in counties required to establish juvenile justice alternative education programs. Except as determined by the commissioner, a student served by a juvenile justice alternative education program on the basis of an expulsion required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e) is not eligible for Foundation School Program funding under Chapter 31 or 48 if the juvenile justice alternative education program receives funding from the department under this subchapter. (i) A student transferred to a juvenile justice alternative education program must participate in the program for the full period ordered by the juvenile court unless the student’s school district agrees to accept the student before the date ordered by the juvenile court. The juvenile court may not order a period of transfer under this section that exceeds the term of any probation ordered by the juvenile court. (j) In relation to the development and operation of a juvenile justice alternative education program, a juvenile board and a county and a commissioners court are immune from liability to the same extent as a school district, and the juvenile board’s or county’s professional employees and volunteers are immune from liability to the same extent as a school district’s professional employees and volunteers. (k) Each school district in a county with a population greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall annually enter into a joint memorandum of understanding that: (1) outlines the responsibilities of the juvenile board concerning the establishment and operation of a juvenile justice alternative education program under this section; (2) defines the amount and conditions on payments from the school district to the juvenile board for students of the school district served in the juvenile justice alternative education program whose placement was not made on the basis of an expulsion required under Section 37.007(a), (d), or (e); (3) establishes that a student may be placed in the juvenile justice alternative education program if the student engages in serious misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c); (4) identifies and requires a timely placement and specifies a term of placement for expelled students for whom the school district has received a notice under Section 52.041(d), Family Code; (5) establishes services for the transitioning of expelled students to the school district prior to the completion of the student’s placement in the juvenile justice alternative education program; (6) establishes a plan that provides transportation services for students placed in the juvenile justice alternative education program; (7) establishes the circumstances and conditions under which a juvenile may be allowed to remain in the juvenile justice alternative education program setting once the juvenile is no longer under juvenile court jurisdiction; and (8) establishes a plan to address special education services required by law. (l) The school district shall be responsible for providing an immediate educational program to students who engage in behavior resulting in expulsion under Section 37.007(b) and (f) but who are not eligible for admission into the juvenile justice alternative education program in accordance with the memorandum of understanding required under this section. The school district may provide the program or the school district may contract with a county juvenile board, a private provider, or one or more other school districts to provide the program. The memorandum of understanding shall address the circumstances under which such students who continue to engage in serious misbehavior, as defined by Section 37.007(c), shall be admitted into the juvenile justice alternative education program. (m) Each school district in a county with a population greater than 125,000 and the county juvenile board shall adopt a joint memorandum of understanding as required by this section not later than September 1 of each school year. (n) If a student who is ordered to attend a juvenile justice alternative education program moves from one county to another, the juvenile court may request the juvenile justice alternative education program in the county to which the student moves to provide educational services to the student in accordance with the local memorandum of understanding between the school district and juvenile board in the receiving county. (o) In relation to the development and operation of a juvenile justice alternative education program, a juvenile board and a county and a commissioners court are immune from liability to the same extent as a school district, and the juvenile board’s or county’s employees and volunteers are immune from liability to the same extent as a school district’s employees and volunteers. (p) If a district elects to contract with the juvenile board for placement in the juvenile justice alternative education program of students expelled under Section 37.007(b), (c), and (f) and the juvenile board and district are unable to reach an agreement in the memorandum of understanding, either party may request that the issues of dispute be referred to a binding arbitration process that uses a qualified alternative dispute resolution arbitrator in which each party will pay its pro rata share of the arbitration costs. Each party must submit its final proposal to the arbitrator. If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator, the juvenile board shall select an arbitrator, the school districts shall select an arbitrator, and those two arbitrators shall select an arbitrator who will decide the issues in dispute. An arbitration decision issued under this subsection is enforceable in a court in the county in which the juvenile justice alternative education program is located. Any decision by an arbitrator concerning the amount of the funding for a student who is expelled and attending a juvenile justice alternative education program must provide an amount sufficient based on operation of the juvenile justice alternative education program in accordance with this chapter. In determining the amount to be paid by a school district for an expelled student enrolled in a juvenile justice alternative education program, the arbitrator shall consider the relevant factors, including evidence of: (1) the actual average total per student expenditure in the district’s alternative education setting; (2) the expected per student cost in the juvenile justice alternative education program as described and agreed on in the memorandum of understanding and in compliance with this chapter; and (3) the costs necessary to achieve the accountability goals under this chapter. (q) In accordance with rules adopted by the board of trustees for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, a certified educator employed by a juvenile board in a juvenile justice alternative education program shall be eligible for membership and participation in the system to the same extent that an employee of a public school district is eligible. The juvenile board shall make any contribution that otherwise would be the responsibility of the school district if the person were employed by the school district, and the state shall make any contribution to the same extent as if the person were employed by a school district.

(a) If a school district removes a student from the regular classroom and places the student in in-school suspension or another setting other than a disciplinary alternative education program, the district shall offer the student the opportunity to complete before the beginning of the next school year each course in which the student was enrolled at the time of the removal. (b) The district may provide the opportunity to complete courses by any method available, including a correspondence course, distance learning, or summer school.

(a) In this section: (1) “Alternative education program” includes: (A) a disciplinary alternative education program operated by a school district or open-enrollment charter school; (B) a juvenile justice alternative education program; and (C) a residential program or facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, a juvenile board, or any other governmental entity. (2) “Licensed clinical social worker” has the meaning assigned by Section 505.002, Occupations Code. (b) As soon as practicable after an alternative education program determines the date of a student’s release from the program, the alternative education program administrator shall: (1) provide written notice of that date to: (A) the student’s parent or a person standing in parental relation to the student; and (B) the administrator of the campus to which the student intends to transition; and (2) provide the campus administrator: (A) an assessment of the student’s academic growth while attending the alternative education program; and (B) the results of any assessment instruments administered to the student. (c) Not later than five instructional days after the date of a student’s release from an alternative education program, the campus administrator shall coordinate the student’s transition to a regular classroom. The coordination must include assistance and recommendations from: (1) school counselors; (2) school district peace officers; (3) school resource officers; (4) licensed clinical social workers; (5) campus behavior coordinators; (6) classroom teachers who are or may be responsible for implementing the student’s personalized transition plan developed under Subsection (d); and (7) any other appropriate school district personnel. (d) The assistance required by Subsection (c) must include a personalized transition plan for the student developed by the campus administrator. A personalized transition plan: (1) must include recommendations for the best educational placement of the student; and (2) may include: (A) recommendations for counseling, behavioral management, or academic assistance for the student with a concentration on the student’s academic or career goals; (B) recommendations for assistance for obtaining access to mental health services provided by the district or school, a local mental health authority, or another private or public entity; (C) the provision of information to the student’s parent or a person standing in parental relation to the student about the process to request a full individual and initial evaluation of the student for purposes of special education services under Section 29.004; and (D) a regular review of the student’s progress toward the student’s academic or career goals. (e) If practicable, the campus administrator, or the administrator’s designee, shall meet with the student’s parent or a person standing in parental relation to the student to coordinate plans for the student’s transition. (f) This section applies only to a student subject to compulsory attendance requirements under Section 25.085.