Unlike many adults who may still be allowed to continue their professional lives without their boss or manager knowing about a criminal accusation, our client’s principal, vice-principal, and teachers will likely know of their arrest immediately.
Upon arrest of any felony or certain misdemeanors (including indecent exposure), the arresting officer must contact the school within 24 hours or on the next school day. This requirement will always encompass sexually related offenses even when they happen off campus or during the summer.
New amendments to Article 15.27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure addresses the school notification issue for sex offenders specifically:
Art. 15.27. NOTIFICATION TO SCHOOLS REQUIRED.
(a) A law enforcement agency that arrests any person or refers a child to the office or official designated by the juvenile board who the agency believes is enrolled as a student in a public primary or secondary school, for an offense listed in Subsection (h), shall attempt to ascertain whether the person is so enrolled. If the law enforcement agency ascertains that the individual is enrolled as a student in a public primary or secondary school, the agency shall orally notify the superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district in which the student is enrolled of that arrest or referral within 24 hours after the arrest or referral is made, or on the next school day. If the law enforcement agency cannot ascertain whether the individual is enrolled as a student, the agency shall orally notify the superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district in which the student is believed to be enrolled of that arrest or detention within 24 hours after the arrest or detention, or on the next school day. If the individual is a student, the superintendent shall promptly notify all instructional and support personnel who have responsibility for supervision of the student. All personnel shall keep the information received in this subsection confidential. The State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or suspend the certification of personnel who intentionally violate this subsection. Within seven days after the date the oral notice is given, the law enforcement agency shall mail written notification, marked "PERSONAL and CONFIDENTIAL" on the mailing envelope, to the superintendent or the person designated by the superintendent. Both the oral and written notice shall contain sufficient details of the arrest or referral and the acts allegedly committed by the student to enable the superintendent or the superintendent's designee to determine whether there is a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense by the Penal Code. The information contained in the notice may be considered by the superintendent or the superintendent's designee in making such a determination.
(a-1) The superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district may send to a school district employee having direct supervisory responsibility over the student the information contained in the confidential notice under Subsection (a) if the superintendent or the person designated by the superintendent determines that the employee needs the information for educational purposes or for the protection of the person informed or others.
(b) On conviction, deferred prosecution, or deferred adjudication or an adjudication of delinquent conduct of an individual enrolled as a student in a public primary or secondary school, for an offense or for any conduct listed in Subsection (h) of this article, the office of the prosecuting attorney acting in the case shall orally notify the superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district in which the student is enrolled of the conviction or adjudication and whether the student is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62. Oral notification must be given within 24 hours of the time of the order or on the next school day. The superintendent shall, within 24 hours of receiving notification from the office of the prosecuting attorney, notify all instructional and support personnel who have regular contact with the student. Within seven days after the date the oral notice is given, the office of the prosecuting attorney shall mail written notice, which must contain a statement of the offense of which the individual is convicted or on which the adjudication, deferred adjudication, or deferred prosecution is grounded and a statement of whether the student is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62.
(c) A parole or probation office having jurisdiction over a student described by Subsection (a), (b), or (e) who transfers from a school or is subsequently removed from a school and later returned to a school or school district other than the one the student was enrolled in when the arrest, referral to a juvenile court, conviction, or adjudication occurred shall notify the new school officials of the arrest or referral in a manner similar to that provided for by Subsection (a) or (e)(1), or of the conviction or delinquent adjudication in a manner similar to that provided for by Subsection (b) or (e)(2). The new school officials shall promptly notify all instructional and support personnel who have regular contact with the student.
(d) The superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent in the school district may send to a school district employee having direct supervisory responsibility over the student the information contained in the confidential notice if the superintendent or the person designated by the superintendent determines that the school district employee needs the information for educational purposes or for the protection of the person informed or others.
(e)(1) A law enforcement agency that arrests, or refers to a juvenile court under Chapter 52, Family Code, an individual who the law enforcement agency knows or believes is enrolled as a student in a private primary or secondary school shall make the oral and written notifications described by Subsection (a) to the principal or a school employee designated by the principal of the school in which the student is enrolled.
(2) On conviction, deferred prosecution, or deferred adjudication or an adjudication of delinquent conduct of an individual enrolled as a student in a private primary or secondary school, the office of prosecuting attorney shall make the oral and written notifications described by Subsection (b) of this article to the principal or a school employee designated by the principal of the school in which the student is enrolled.
(3) The principal of a private school in which the student is enrolled or a school employee designated by the principal may send to a school employee having direct supervisory responsibility over the student the information contained in the confidential notice, for the same purposes as described by Subsection (d) of this article.
(f) A person who receives information under this article may not disclose the information except as specifically authorized by this article. A person who intentionally violates this article commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
(g) The office of the prosecuting attorney or the office or official designated by the juvenile board shall, within two working days, notify the school district that removed a student to a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.006, Education Code, if:
(1) prosecution of the student's case was refused for lack of prosecutorial merit or insufficient evidence and no formal proceedings, deferred adjudication, or deferred prosecution will be initiated; or
(2) the court or jury found the student not guilty or made a finding the child did not engage in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision and the case was dismissed with prejudice.
(h) This article applies to any felony offense and the following misdemeanors:
(1) an offense under Section 20.02 [Unlawful Restraint], 21.08 [Indecent Exposure], 22.01 [Assault], 22.05 [Deadly Conduct], 22.07 [Terroristic Threat], or 71.02 [Engaging in Organized Crime], Penal Code;
(2) the unlawful use, sale, or possession of a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, or marihuana, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code; or
(3) the unlawful possession of any of the weapons or devices listed in Sections 46.01(1)-(14) or (16), Penal Code, or a weapon listed as a prohibited weapon under Section 46.05, Penal Code.
(i) A person may substitute electronic notification for oral notification where oral notification is required by this article. If electronic notification is substituted for oral notification, any written notification required by this article is not required.
(j) The notification provisions of this section concerning a person who is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62 do not lessen the requirement of a person to provide any additional notification prescribed by that chapter.
As of September 1, 2007, there is an entirely new procedure for educating (and removing) students who must register as a sex offender. Essentially, if the student is currently under court supervision for a sex offense the school district MUST remove the student to an alternative education placement (AEP) for at least one semester. If the student is merely registering as a sex offender and is no longer on probation (probably an extremely rare occurrence) the school may keep the student in the regular classroom if the student can prove he is not a danger to other students, is not an educational disruption, and is not a threat.
SECTION 3. Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. PLACEMENT OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS
Sec. 37.301. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "board of trustees" includes the board's designee.
Sec. 37.302. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter:
(1) applies to a student who is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(2) does not apply to a student who is no longer required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, including a student who receives an exemption from registration under Subchapter H, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, or a student who receives an early termination of the obligation to register under Subchapter I, Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.
Sec. 37.303. REMOVAL OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER FROM REGULAR CLASSROOM. Notwithstanding any provision of Subchapter A, on receiving notice under Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, or Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, that a student is required to register as a sex offender under that chapter, a school district shall remove the student from the regular classroom and determine the appropriate placement of the student in the manner provided by this subchapter.
Sec. 37.304. PLACEMENT OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO IS UNDER COURT SUPERVISION.
(a) A school district shall place a student to whom this subchapter applies and who is under any form of court supervision, including probation, community supervision, or parole, in the appropriate alternative education program as provided by Section 37.309 for at least one semester.
(b) If a student transfers to another school district during the student's mandatory placement in an alternative education program under Subsection (a), the district to which the student transfers may:
(1) require the student to complete an additional semester in the appropriate alternative education program without conducting a review of the student's placement for that semester under Section 37.306; or
(2) count any time spent by the student in an alternative education program in the district from which the student transfers toward the mandatory placement requirement under Subsection (a).
Sec. 37.305. PLACEMENT OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO IS NOT UNDER COURT SUPERVISION. A school district may place a student to whom this subchapter applies and who is not under any form of court supervision in the appropriate alternative education program as provided by Section 37.309 for one semester or in the regular classroom. The district may not place the student in the regular classroom if the district board of trustees determines that the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(1) threatens the safety of other students or teachers;
(2) will be detrimental to the educational process; or
(3) is not in the best interests of the district's students.
Sec. 37.306. REVIEW OF PLACEMENT IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM.
(a) At the end of the first semester of a student's placement in an alternative education program under Section 37.304 or 37.305, the school district board of trustees shall convene a committee to review the student's placement in the alternative education program. The committee must be composed of:
(1) a classroom teacher from the campus to which the student would be assigned were the student not placed in an alternative education program;
(2) the student's parole or probation officer or, in the case of a student who does not have a parole or probation officer, a representative of the local juvenile probation department;
(3) an instructor from the alternative education program to which the student is assigned;
(4) a school district designee selected by the board of trustees; and
(5) a counselor employed by the school district.
(b) The committee by majority vote shall determine and recommend to the school district board of trustees whether the student should be returned to the regular classroom or remain in the alternative education program.
(c) If the committee recommends that the student be returned to the regular classroom, the board of trustees shall return the student to the regular classroom unless the board determines that the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(1) threatens the safety of other students or teachers;
(2) will be detrimental to the educational process; or
(3) is not in the best interests of the district's students.
(d) If the committee recommends that the student remain in the alternative education program, the board of trustees shall continue the student's placement in the alternative education program unless the board determines that the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(1) does not threaten the safety of other students or teachers;
(2) will not be detrimental to the educational process; and
(3) is not contrary to the best interests of the district's students.
(e) If, after receiving a recommendation under Subsection (b), the school district board of trustees determines that the student should remain in an alternative education program, the board shall before the beginning of each school year convene the committee described by Subsection (a) to review, in the manner provided by Subsections (b), (c), and (d), the student's placement in an alternative education program.
Sec. 37.307. PLACEMENT AND REVIEW OF STUDENT WITH DISABILITY.
(a) The placement under this subchapter of a student with a disability who receives special education services must be made in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.).
(b) The review under Section 37.306 of the placement of a student with a disability who receives special education services may be made only by a duly constituted admission, review, and dismissal committee. The admission, review, and dismissal committee may request that the board of trustees convene a committee described by Section 37.306(a) to assist the admission, review, and dismissal committee in conducting the review.
Sec. 37.308. TRANSFER OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER. Except as provided by Section 37.304(b), a school district shall determine whether to place a student to whom this subchapter applies and who transfers to the district in the appropriate alternative education program as provided by Section 37.309 or in a regular classroom. The school district shall follow the procedures specified under Section 37.306 in making the determination.
Sec. 37.309. PLACEMENT IN DISCIPLINARY ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM OR JUVENILE JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a school district shall place a student who is required by the board of trustees to attend an alternative education program under this subchapter in a disciplinary alternative education program.
(b) A school district shall place a student who is required by the board of trustees to attend an alternative education program under this subchapter in a juvenile justice alternative education program if:
(1) the memorandum of understanding entered into between the school district and juvenile board under Section 37.011(k) provides for the placement of students to whom this subchapter applies in the juvenile justice alternative education program; or
(2) a court orders the placement of the student in a juvenile justice alternative education program.
Sec. 37.310. FUNDING FOR REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER PLACED IN JUVENILE JUSTICE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM. A juvenile justice alternative education program is entitled to funding for a student who is placed in the program under this subchapter in the same manner as a juvenile justice alternative education program is entitled to funding under Section 37.012 for a student who is expelled and placed in a juvenile justice alternative education program for conduct for which expulsion is permitted but not required under Section 37.007.
Sec. 37.311. CONFERENCE.
(a) A student or the student's parent or guardian may appeal a decision by a school district board of trustees to place the student in an alternative education program under this subchapter by requesting a conference among the board of trustees, the student's parent or guardian, and the student. The conference is limited to the factual question of whether the student is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(b) If the school district board of trustees determines at the conclusion of the conference that the student is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, the student is subject to placement in an alternative education program in the manner provided by this subchapter.
(c) A decision by the board of trustees under this section is final and may not be appealed.
Sec. 37.312. LIABILITY. This subchapter does not:
(1) waive any liability or immunity of a governmental entity or its officers or employees; or
(2) create any liability for or a cause of action against a governmental entity or its officers or employees.
Sec. 37.313. CONFLICTS OF LAW. To the extent of any conflict between a provision of this subchapter and a provision of Subchapter A, this subchapter prevails.
