'Teacher protection bill' goes into effect this fall

Starting Sept. 1, it will be required that teachers and staff are notified of offenses committed by their students.

Rep. Jerry Madden, who represents Plano in District 67, helped to get what is known as the "teacher protection bill" passed just before the Texas Legislature closed its regular session in May.

Along with state Sen. John Whitmire, Madden helped draft the bill in response to events where the safety of teachers was compromised by students in the juvenile justice system.

In 2006 during an after-school meeting at Reagan High School in Austin, a registered sex offender student held a pair of scissors to a teacher's neck and threatened to sexually assault her. Several years later, a teacher in Tyler was stabbed and killed by a 16-year-old student who had a record.

Madden said teachers in both public and private schools should be notified by the next school day when students are arrested, referred, convicted or adjudicated for certain criminal offenses. Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors would be responsible for notifying the school superintendent, who would relay the information to education officials and the student's supervisors.

"It's aimed at about four to five different places," Madden said. "Particularly, it's aimed to make sure the information gets to the teachers. We also have places where the information really didn't get to the districts."

In many cases, teachers are some of the first people students come in contact with after an incident with police. Andra Harris, a Plano ISD teacher and vice president of the local Association of Texas Professional Educators chapter, said she knows teachers in other school districts who have been attacked by students.

"I think a lot of times they are so full of anger, and they bring it to school and release it," Harris said.

Oral or written notice will be required specifically if the student commits an assault or other violent behavior, uses a weapon in an offense or has a weapon in his/her possession during an offense.

"I think teachers can use the information, so they will certainly know if a kid has something going on in their life and they could be threatening," Madden said.

Current laws allow schools to use discretion on when to notify teachers about a student's offense, but now the State Board for Educator Certification may revoke or suspend the certification of personnel who intentionally violate the law. The new law should help teachers and staff members take precautions against being alone with a potentially unstable student, Madden said.

Harris said the extra information could help a teacher be proactive in the student's life.

"Some teachers will see what they can do to help the kid," Harris said. "I have faith that most teachers would do that. We have things in place to help kids like counseling, teacher mentoring or special programs after school."

Laurie Newby teaches English as a second language at Otto Middle School and said that while the student's criminal information would not be shared with other students or parents, it does allow teachers to better look after the entire classroom.

"We want to protect all the students," Newby said, "so teachers would have a heightened awareness of precautions they need to take. There are violent people out there, not just teens. It's a part of not just teaching, but life."

The teacher protection bill only applies to offenses committed after the law goes into effect.

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