Focus Report, Volume 87, Number 4, November 2021 Page: 9
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House Research Organization Page 9
school year, the governing body of a charter holder is
required annually to report information about each
campus it operates, including the number of students
enrolled, the enrollment capacity, and the number of
students on its waiting list. The first report, released in
March 2021, said the total number of individual students
reported on waitlists, for charter schools that maintain
them, was 55,059 for the 2020-2021 school year.
Student discipline. Charter schools have greater
statutory authority than districts to deny admission based
on a student's history of school discipline and to remove
students for violating a school's code of conduct.
Disciplinary exclusion. Under Education Code sec.
12.111(a)(5)(A), a charter school may exclude from
admission a student who has a documented history of a
criminal offense, a juvenile court adjudication, or school
discipline problems. Documented discipline history
indicates a student was subject to a disciplinary action that
resulted from an Education Code offense and that was
documented with an explanation of the offense and reason
for the disciplinary action.
Under sec. 25.001(d)(1), a school district may exclude
a student who engaged in conduct or misbehavior within
the preceding year that resulted in his or her removal to
a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP)
or expulsion. Districts also are not required to admit a
student who is on probation or other criminal release for
delinquent conduct or a criminal conviction.
Beginning with the fall 2020 enrollment, charter
schools must use a new statewide common admission
application that does not request information about a
student applicant's disciplinary history, although that
information may be requested when enrolling an admitted
student.
Disciplinary removals. Districts are limited to removing
students from class to a DAEP for specified conduct listed
in sec. 37.006 and to expelling students for specified
serious offenses listed in sec. 37.007. Chapter 37, which
governs school discipline, generally does not apply to
charter schools. A charter school under sec. 12.111(a)(5)
(A) may remove or expel students for violations of the
charter school's code of conduct using the due process
procedures outlined in its student conduct code.
The Texas Legislature in recent sessions has considered
proposals to change how charter schools handle studentdisciplinary issues. The House Public Education
Committee in 2021 approved HB 97 by Hinojosa, which
died in the House Calendars Committee. The bill would
have prohibited a charter school from discriminating in
its admissions policy on the basis of a student's discipline
history. The bill would have allowed a charter school
to exclude from admission students who were currently
placed in a disciplinary or juvenile justice alternative
education program or under an expulsion order from a
school district or charter school. Other bills filed in 2021
also would have more closely aligned charter schools'
policies and procedures for suspension and expulsion with
those that school districts must follow, but none of those
bills advanced during the 87th Legislature.
The House Public Education Committee in 2019
approved HB 3013 by Talarico, which would have
prohibited a charter school from expelling a student
based on a student's attendance, academic ability or
performance, or the acts or omissions of a student's parent
or legal guardian. The bill, which died in the House
Calendars Committee, also would have prevented a charter
school employee from suggesting a student withdraw from
the school in lieu of being disciplined under the school's
code of conduct.
Supporters ofaligning charter school disciplinary
standards with standardsfor district schools say that such
parity would ensure a more equal and understandable
disciplinary system for all public school students.
Under current law, charter schools are allowed to make
admissions decisions based on a student's history of
school discipline, which could include minor infractions,
supporters say. They say this makes it less likely that
certain students who are disproportionately impacted by
school discipline are able to enroll in a charter school.
Supporters of revising these standards say that applying the
disciplinary exclusion related to charter school enrollment
only to students with a documented history of a criminal
offense or who are currently in a disciplinary or juvenile
justice alternative educational program would be more in
line with the enrollment policy for school districts and still
protect the safety of charter teachers and students. While
the new common application form for charter schools
does not request information about a prospective student's
disciplinary history, a charter school could request that
information and use it to deny or deter a student from
enrolling.
Supporters of aligning the disciplinary standards say
charter schools may need to retain some flexibility inPage 9
House Research Organization
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Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Research Organization. Focus Report, Volume 87, Number 4, November 2021, periodical, November 1, 2021; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1507625/m1/9/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.