GKA (TSBVI) - COMMUNITY RELATIONS: CONDUCT ON SCHOOL PREMISES

TRESPASSING

The Board or its authorized representative may refuse to allow persons having no legitimate business to enter on property under the Board's control and may eject any undesirable person from the property on his or her refusal to leave peaceably on request. Identification may be required of any person on the property. Education Code 37.105

DISRUPTION OF LAWFUL ASSEMBLY

A person commits a Class B misdemeanor if the person, alone or in concert with others, intentionally engages in disruptive activity on the campus or property of any school in a district.

Definition

Disruptive activity means:

1. Obstructing or restraining the passage of persons in an exit, entrance, or hallway of any building without the authorization of the administration of the School.
2. Seizing control of any building or portion of a building to interfere with any administrative, educational, research, or other authorized activity.
3. Preventing or attempting to prevent by force or violence or the threat of violence any lawful assembly authorized by the school administration so that a person attempting to participate in the assembly is unable to participate due to the use of force or violence or due to a reasonable fear that force or violence is likely to occur.
4. Disrupting by force or violence or the threat of force or violence a lawful assembly in progress.
5. Obstructing or restraining the passage of any person at an exit or entrance to the campus or property or preventing or attempting to prevent by force or violence or by threats thereof the ingress or egress of any person to or from the property or campus without the authorization of the administration of the School.

Free Speech

These provisions shall not be construed to infringe upon any right of free speech or expression guaranteed by the constitutions of the United States or the State of Texas. Education Code 37.12

DISRUPTION OF CLASSES

A person commits a Class C misdemeanor if the person, on school property or on public property within 500 feet of school property, alone or in concert with others, intentionally disrupts the conduct of classes or other school activities.

Definitions

Disrupting the conduct of classes or other school activities includes:

1. Emitting noise of an intensity that prevents or hinders classroom instruction.
2. Enticing or attempting to entice a student away from a class or other school activity that the student is required to attend.
3. Preventing or attempting to prevent a student from attending a class or other school activity that the student is required to attend.
4. Entering a classroom without the consent of either the principal or teacher and, either through acts of misconduct and/or use of loud or profane language, disrupting class activities.

For purposes of this provision, "school property" shall include the entire TSBVI campus and any grounds or buildings used by the School for assemblies or other school-sponsored activities.

For purposes of this provision, "public property" shall include any street, highway, alley, public park, or sidewalk.

Education Code 37.124

TOBACCO

The Board prohibits smoking or using tobacco products at a school-related or school-sanctioned activity on or off school property. Students are prohibited from possessing tobacco products at a school-related or school-sanctioned activity on or off school property. School personnel shall enforce these policies on school property. Education Code 38.006

Smoking on School Premises

Smoking is prohibited on the campus of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired except at employee residences on campus.

Criminal Penalty

A person commits an offense if he or she is in possession of a burning tobacco product or smokes tobacco in a facility of a public school or an elevator.

Defense

It is a defense to prosecution that a district does not have prominently displayed a reasonably sized notice that smoking is prohibited by state law in such place and that an offense is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.

Facilities for Extinguishment

The School shall be equipped with facilities for extinguishment of smoking materials. Penal Code 48.01(a)-(c)

ALCOHOL

The Board prohibits the use or possession of alcoholic beverages at school-related or school-sanctioned activities on or off school property. Education Code 38.007(a) (See FNCF)

INTOXICANTS

The possession of any intoxicating beverage for consumption, sale or distribution while on the grounds or in any building in the School or while entering or inside any enclosure, field, or stadium where any athletic event sponsored or participated in by the School is being held constitutes a Class C misdemeanor. Education Code 37.122

This possession does not apply to employee residences on the campus.

FIREARMS/WEAPONS

A person commits an offense if the person knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly possesses or goes with a firearm, illegal knife, or prohibited weapon listed in Penal Code 46.05(a) onto the physical school premises of a school or educational institution or on any grounds or building on which an activity sponsored by a school or educational institution is being conducted, or a passenger transportation vehicle of a school or educational institution, unless pursuant to written regulations or written authorization of the School. Penal Code 46.03 (See also FNCG)

"Premises," for purposes of the paragraph above, means a building or a portion of a building. The term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area. Penal Code 46.035(f)(3)

A person commits a third degree felony if the person, by exhibiting or using or threatening to exhibit or use a firearm, interferes with the normal use of a building or portion of a campus or of a school bus being used to transport children to and from school-sponsored activities. Education Code 37.125

Firearms may not be maintained in employee residences on campus; provided, however that, with the written permission of the TSBVI Superintendent, firearms that are mechanically incapable of being discharged may be maintained in employee residences.

CONCEALED HANDGUN LICENSE HOLDER

A concealed handgun license holder commits an offense if the license holder carries a handgun on the property of another without effective consent and received notice that entry on the property by a license holder with a concealed handgun was forbidden or that remaining on the property with a concealed handgun was forbidden and failed to depart.

For purposes of this section, a person receives notice if the owner of the property or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner provides notice to the person by oral or written communication.

“Written communication” means:

1. A card or other document on which is written language identical to the following: “Pursuant to Section 30.06, Penal Code (trespass by holder of license to carry a concealed handgun), a person licensed under Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code (concealed handgun law), may not enter this property with a concealed handgun”; or
2. A sign posted on the property that includes the language described above in both English and Spanish, appears in contrasting colors with block letters at least one inch in height; and is displayed in a conspicuous manner clearly visible to the public.

An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

PREMISES EXCEPTION

It is an exception to the application of this law that the property on which the license holder carries a handgun is owned or leased by a district and is not a premises or other place on which the license holder is prohibited from carrying the handgun under Section 46.03 or 46.035.

Penal Code 30.06 [See also FNCG]

INTERSCHOLASTIC EVENTS

A license holder commits an offense if the license holder intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, regardless of whether the handgun is concealed, on or about the license holder’s person on the premises where a high school, collegiate, or professional sporting event or interscholastic event is taking place, unless the license holder is a participant in the event and a handgun is used in the event. Penal Code 46.035(b)(2)

BOARD MEETINGS

A license holder commits an offense if the license holder intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, regardless of whether the handgun is concealed, at any meeting of a school board, if the license holder was given effective notice under Penal Code 30.06. Penal Code 46.035(c),(i)

FIREWORKS

A person may not explode or ignite fireworks within 600 feet of any school unless the person receives authorization in writing from the school. Occupations Code 2154.251(a)(1)

Adopted: 5/8/81
Amended: 3/12/82, 9/10/82, 11/11/83, 1/26/90, 9/27/91, 3/27/92, 1/29/93, 3/22/96, 11/15/96, 5/28/03, 1/30/04, 11/19/04
Reviewed:

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