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Below is the HillCO client report from the June 3 Senate Jurisprudence Committee hearing.

The committee met to consider multiple interim charges.  The following report focuses only on the following interim charge:
 
Monitor the implementation of Senate Bill 393 and Senate Bill 1114 and determine if any statutory changes are necessary to clarify the intent of this legislation. In addition, determine those school districts that have implemented the graduated sanctions envisioned by Senate Bill 393 and decide if any additional statutory changes are necessary to ensure that school districts are complying with its intent.
 
Chairman Royce West: Since passage of SB 393 and SB 1114, there have been people who have said the bills tied the hands of law enforcement at schools.  That was the intent.  Hands were not tied in regard to criminal activity.  We want to keep kids in the classroom and out of the courthouse.  We cannot have children tying up the justice system.
 
David Slayton, Executive Director, Texas Judicial Council

  • There have been numerous studies done in the past few years regarding school discipline; one of the most dramatic followed one million Texas students over ten years and showed 6 out of 10 were suspended or expelled at least once during a ten year period; 97% were for discretionary offenses; the study also found African American students and students with learning disabilities were disproportionately affected
  • Students expelled or suspended were twice as likely to be held back a grade or drop out of school entirely
  • Sen. John Whitmire noted 84% of African American males are suspended one or more times before they finish school
  • The use of disciplinary actions varies widely between school districts and between schools within the same district
  • SB 393 and SB 1114 dealt with Class C misdemeanors on school property
  • Class C misdemeanors are the most minor offenses that are violations of the law; a traffic ticket is a Class C misdemeanor
  • SB 393:
    • Allowed juvenile case managers to provide services to kids who are deemed at-risk prior to a case being filed
    • Prohibited ticketing for Class C violations in schools; replaced tickets with a complaint process
      • The complaint must be accompanied by an eye-witness statement, must include whether the child has learning disabilities and must include whether graduated sanctions were used
    • Gave prosecutors discretion to review graduated sanctions
    • Authorized a first offender program
  • There has been a 71% drop in cases filed since the bills were passed last session
  • Neither bill dealt with truancy or failure to attend school; there was a 23% drop in failure to attend cases reported in the same period
  • West ask what that statistic means
    • Either more kids were showing up or the officers are choosing not to file on them
  • Sen. Donna Campbell asked if there was a drop in actual truancy
    • The data doesn’t show those numbers
  • Campbell noted she doesn’t want to see a false statistic because kids are still truant
    • Whitmire noted they are now using best practices; case managers are being used to reach the students and determine why truancy is happening before a ticket is given
  • There has been a lot of misunderstanding about what the bills did; Judicial Council is attempting to help answer questions and train law enforcement on what the bills did and their intent
  • Campbell asked if disruption of transportation includes things like acting up on the bus and throwing things at the bus driver
    • That is basically what it is
    • West noted violations of the penal code can still require students to be sent through the juvenile justice system

 
Ryan Turner, General Counsel and Director of Education, Texas Municipal Courts Education Center

  • The issue pertaining to the non-disclosure of records should be addressed in the next session; two parts of the code can be followed in two separate ways
  • More emphasis being placed on diversion is the reason for the drop in cases at schools
  • It is cost prohibitive to send these children through the system; judges and prosecutors around the state believe the measures are working
  • West asked what the juvenile case manager system entails
    • Juvenile case managers are a hybrid of probation officers, court clerks and case managers; they are allowed to get involved in cases before a kid comes to court without the necessity of a court order; used as a new diversion system
  • Would like teen courts to be used more in the front end approach as well
  • There is a lot of misinformation being disseminated about the two bills; mostly regarding the filing requirements; children can still be arrested and taken into custody just like they were before
  • West noted he would like certain groups to get together and create a standard of practice for both bills’ implementation; would like TASB to get involved
  • Sen. Sylvia Garcia asked what the issue is with non-disclosure; if the case is not filed there will be no record; if a case is filed and a conviction is handed down will the case record be sealed
    • With a conviction, records would be sealed; if a case is diverted and never sent to court the record is sealed at the time of charging; the issue is surrounding when the moment of charging actually is

 
Joy Baskin, Director of Legal Services, Texas Association of School Boards

  • The information TASB has disseminated on this subject has been published online
  • The measures implemented by the bills are working and in large part, working for schools as well
  • The response has been surprise to change followed by concerns about being able to respond to activities with discipline; schools have stepped up their efforts in discipline training and there is a renewed commitment to using those techniques
  • Could use a little tidying up in the bills related to what can be done for disorderly conduct; just a clarification of language
  • Some of the membership has been concerned about students with low level misconduct that continues when discipline measure have failed; there is no way to progress punishment for low level misconduct
  • Sen. Jose Rodriguez asked if guidance is being provided regarding graduated sanctions
    • Districts like to be able to have their own control in these type of issues; many have similar policies but not the formal protocols outlined in the bills

 
Dr. Scott McKenzie, Principal, Rayburn Middle School, Northside ISD

  • SB 393 punishes schools who use their disciplinary capabilities in accordance with the law
  • Implementing the approach in a large district is unreasonable
  • The law doesn’t allow parents to pursue citations for assault and violence against their children
  • Two students who fight in school will not be punished in the same way as the same kids fighting across the street off campus would be; it can be a bigger deal on campus where there could be thousands of children around

 
Jeff Gasaway, Principal, Midway High School, Midway ISD

  • There are appropriate times when schools should issue citations to students including mutual combat
  • Students bringing alcohol onto campus is also a Class C misdemeanor and cannot be cited now
  • Some of the most significant issues within the school are no longer on the table for citation
  • Rodriguez asked if school fighting can be addressed through graduated sanctions
    • Mutual combat is not the same as fighting; it is more serious where both parties are throwing punches
  • West asked why it wouldn’t be appropriate to use graduated sanctions for mutual combat
    • It is a significant situation; more serious than throwing erasers or profanity in the hallway; if the kids were off campus they would receive a citation; major events warrant legal consequences
  • West asked if there are still tools available for addressing major fights, juvenile court, etc.; how does a school differentiate between serious enough fights
    • Injuries or weapons could escalate a Class C to a higher level offense; fighting, alcohol, tobacco and drug paraphernalia and other major disruptions still need to be addressed
  • West noted the complaint process is there for these situations
  • Garcia noted many parents are angered when a ticket is given at the first sign of misbehavior; children deserve more than one strike before they are sent into the system; citations should not be used as the easy way out for schools
  • West brought up the complaint process; do courts not accept those complaints
    • Officers are telling school administrators that courts are not accepting complaints so they are not worth doing
  • West noted he can see officers making that statement if they believe there is insufficient evidence to punish a student; the whole purpose of this was to reduce the number of tickets kids are being given on campus; there are resources to help administrators answer any questions they have regarding the new laws

 
Chris Coy, Associate Principal, Hutto High School, Hutto ISD

  • The main problems with the legislation is confusion over what schools are supposed to do
  • Principals deal with discipline all the time and take many factors into consideration when disciplining a student; progressive measures are always considered
  • Have tried to implement behavior contracts but they have not been very effective
  • Students having to stand in front of a judge is a different situation and is very effective; behavior after that is generally changed
  • West asked if Hutto ISD has utilized the complaint process to file for more serious cases
    • Not as well as it will be used next year
  • West asked about conflict in the law; any areas in particular
    • Will provide that to the committee; there may have been two separate messages in the bills that needs to be addressed regarding who can be cited and who cannot

 
Lon Craft, Texas Municipal Police Association

  • The majority of mutual combat cases being seen are gang related; graduated sanctions don’t work for gang related situations; those kids do not want to be in school
  • Citations, in the past, could have been used to force students to get involved in mediation programs; if programs are completed tickets can be dismissed

 
Debra Fowler, Deputy Director, Texas Appleseed

  • Pleased to hear that the legislation is working
  • There are still tools available for school districts or law enforcement officers who want to file a Class C case against a student; the complaint process can be used

 
Derek Cohen, Texas Public Policy Foundation

  • The legislation has provided a non-judicial approach to addressing punishment for school misconduct
  • The earlier a person runs into the justice system, the worse the outcome is in general
  • Failure to attend school needs to be addressed still, as noted by Sen. Whitmire
  • Recommend removing the mandatory filing of failure to attend school cases
    • Schools would still have the availability to file the cases once three issues have been filed, it just wouldn’t be mandatory
  • Failure to attend schools should be decriminalized entirely
  • Suspension should not be a punishment for failure to attend; it punishes the student by keeping them out of school

 
Public Testimony
 
Ronnie Humphrey

  • There has been a significant rise in suspensions and arrests due to the legislation
  • Recommends the first Class C be a mandatory warning; Class C violations could go away or off the record once satisfied certain requirements 

 
David Counts, U.S. Magistrate Judge

  • Applauded the legislation for heavily reducing inefficiencies in the courts against children
  • Supports mandatory graduated sanctions and encouraged the Committee to implement a ‘teen court’ program similar to the one operating in Midland, Texas

 
Becky Kerbow Justice of the Peace Precinct No. 3, Denton County

  • Asked for greater standardization of SB 393 sanctions
    • Specifically, she recognized that the lack of detail in Section 8.07 of SB 393 has led to a variation of punishments against children with similar crimes
  • SB 393 has also failed to address punishments for children with extensive school absences

 
Jennifer Carreon, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition

  • A majority of ISD police departments are not using progressive sanctions; however, they have all participated in the formalized complaint process
  • Citation only systems prevent administrators from trying to learn about children’s issues and helping them before they enter the system