July 2005
Page 2

Placement-Review Committee

6. Question: What is a placement-review committee?

Answer: The law says each school must establish a three-member committee with two teachers (and one alternate) chosen by the campus faculty to serve as members and one member chosen by the principal from the professional staff of the campus. TEA recommends making this a standing committee. This committee can override a teacher’s refusal to accept the return to the regular classroom of a student the teacher has removed under the discretionary removal provision. To override the teacher’s decision, the committee must determine that such placement is the best or only placement available.

Mandatory Removal

7. Question: When is removal of a student mandatory?

Answer: The law says, “A teacher shall remove from class and send to the principal for placement in an alternative program or for expulsion, as appropriate,” a student who engages in various types of serious misconduct. Section 37.006 lists the kinds of misconduct that require placement in an alternative program. Section 37.007 lists the kinds of misconduct that trigger expulsion.

8. Question: When is placement in an alternative education program mandatory?

Answer: The law says a student “shall be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program” for any of the following acts committed on or within 300 feet of school property or at a school-related event:

(1) any conduct punishable as a felony;
(2) conduct that meets the Penal Code definition of an assault causing bodily injury;
(3) use, possession, sale, or delivery of alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs;
(4) conduct that meets the Penal Code definition of abuse of glue, aerosol paint,
or chemicals;
(5) conduct that meets the Penal Code definition of public lewdness or indecent
exposure.
· off-campus violent felony conduct, as found by a court or jury, or as determined by the superintendent based on “reasonable belief.”
· conduct that meets the Penal Code definition of retaliation against any school employee, regardless of where the conduct occurs.
· conduct that meets the Penal Code definition of “false report” (for example, a bomb threat) or “terroristic threat.”
· expellable misconduct by a student under age ten.

Teachers and paraprofessionals must be notified by their principal if a student under their supervision has engaged in any of these types of misconduct. The information is confidential, and unauthorized disclosure can trigger certification suspension or revocation.

9. Question: May a teacher refuse a student’s return to the regular classroom after mandatory placement in an alternative education program for these types of misconduct?

Answer: Yes. In these cases the law bars the student’s return to the classroom of the teacher who removed the student, unless that teacher consents. Section 37.009(e) also says that the teacher’s consent may not be coerced.

10. Question: Where do students go after mandatory removal for these types of misconduct?

Answer: Each school district must provide an alternative education program outside the regular classroom and separate from students in the regular program. The alternative program may be on or off of a regular campus. If it is an off-campus program exclusively for students removed under Chapter 37, Code safeguards of employee rights and benefits do not apply.

Expulsion

11. Question: When must a student be expelled, instead of being placed in an alternative education program within the public school system?

Answer: For offenses listed in Section 37.007, the law mandates expulsion and referral to the juvenile justice system. Offenses that trigger expulsion if committed on school property or at a school event are:
(1) use, exhibition, or possession of a firearm, illegal knife, club, or prohibited weapon, as these terms are defined in the Penal Code;
(2) conduct that meets the definition of aggravated assault, sexual assault, arson, murder, attempted murder, indecency with a child, or aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide;
(3) felony offenses involving alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs;
(4) any one of these offenses committed in retaliation against a school employee, regardless of where the offense occurs.
Section 37.007 requires a school district to inform each teacher who has regular contact with a student through a classroom assignment if that student has engaged in any of the above violations. The teacher is required to keep this information confidential and may have his/her certificate sanctioned if the information is released.

This section of the Code also allows school districts to expel a student for:
(1) serious and persistent misbehavior—while in a disciplinary alternative education program—that
violates the district’s student code of conduct;
(2) felony criminal mischief;
(3) misdemeanor drug and alcohol offenses at school;
(4) assault on a school employee or volunteer causing bodily injury;
(5) false report (for example, a bomb threat) or terroristic threat as defined in the Penal Code;
(6) deadly conduct as defined in the Penal Code;
(7) conduct occurring within 300 feet of school property that would trigger automatic expulsion if it occurred on campus or that involved possession of a firearm;
(8) conduct occurring on school property or at a school-related event in another school district that would trigger expulsion if it occurred in the student’s district.

Students with Disabilities

12. Question: Do all of the provisions of Chapter 37 apply to students with disabilities?

Answer: Some, but not all. A student with a disability who receives special education services comes under the same state standards triggering removal from class. But long-term (more than ten days) placement of such a student must be made only by a duly constituted Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee. Any decision by a placement-review committee regarding a student with disabilities receiving special education services also must comply with federal and state laws on special education.

Due Process

13. Question: What process must be followed after a student is removed—under either the discretionary or mandatory removal provisions?

Answer: The principal should schedule a conference no later than the third day after the day of the removal.
The student may not be returned to the regular classroom before the conference. The student is entitled to notice of the reasons for removal and an opportunity to respond. In addition to the student, those entitled to attend are: the student’s parent or guardian; the teacher who removed the student; and the principal or the principal’s designee. Whether these individuals attend or not, the principal must then order the student’s placement based on what the conference shows regarding the student’s conduct.

NOTE: The teacher should document and describe the student’s misconduct carefully and precisely at this post-removal conference. When a teacher has initiated the removal, the principal cannot compel the teacher to take back the student after this conference—unless and until a properly constituted placement-review committee determines that teacher’s class to be the best or only placement available. If the student’s alternative placement will extend beyond the end of the next grading period, the student’s parent or guardian can request a hearing before the school board. The board’s decision in such a case is final and cannot be appealed. In order to expel a student, the board or its designee must provide the student a hearing with constitutional due process. The student’s parent or guardian must be invited, in writing, to attend. The board’s decision can be appealed to district court.

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