The law, section by section

(a) A teacher may send a student to the campus behavior coordinator's office to maintain effective discipline in the classroom. The campus behavior coordinator shall respond by employing appropriate discipline management techniques consistent with the student code of conduct adopted under Section 37.001 that can reasonably be expected to improve the student's behavior before returning the student to the classroom.

(b) A teacher may remove from class a student who:

(1) repeatedly interferes with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in the class or with the ability of the student's classmates to learn;

(2) demonstrates behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or abusive toward the teacher, another adult, or another student; or

(3) engages in conduct that constitutes bullying, as defined by Section 37.0832.

(b-3) Subject to Sections 28.0022(a)(2) and (d), a teacher may remove a student from class under Subsection (b) of this section based on a single incident of behavior described by Subsection (b)(1), (2), or (3).

(b-1) A teacher may document any conduct by a student that does not conform to the student code of conduct adopted under Section 37.001 and may submit that documentation to the principal. A school district may not discipline a teacher on the basis of documentation submitted under this subsection.

(b-2) A teacher, campus behavior coordinator, or other appropriate administrator shall notify a parent or person standing in parental relation to a student of the removal of a student under this section.

(c) If a teacher removes a student from class under Subsection (b), the principal may place the student into another appropriate classroom, into in-school suspension, or into a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section 37.008.

The principal may not return the student to that teacher's class without the teacher's written consent unless the committee established under Section 37.003 determines that such placement is the best or only alternative available and, not later than the third class day after the day on which the student was removed from class, a conference in which the teacher has been provided an opportunity to participate has been held in accordance with Section 37.009(a). The principal may not return the student to that teacher's class unless the teacher provides written consent for the student's return or a return to class plan has been prepared for that student. The principal may only designate an employee of the school whose primary duties do not include classroom instruction to create a return to class plan.

(a) Each school shall establish a three-member committee to determine placement of a student when a teacher refuses the return of a student to the teacher's class and make recommendations to the district regarding readmission of expelled students. Members shall be appointed as follows: (1) the campus faculty shall choose two teachers to serve as members and one teacher to serve as an alternate member; and (2) the principal shall choose one member from the professional staff of a campus.

(b) The teacher refusing to readmit the student may not serve on the committee.

(d) A teacher shall remove from class and send to the principal for placement in a disciplinary alternative education program or for expulsion, as appropriate, a student who engages in conduct described under Section 37.006 or 37.007. The student may not be returned to that teacher's class without the teacher's written consent unless the committee established under Section 37.003 determines that such placement is the best or only alternative available and a conference in which the teacher has been provided an opportunity to participate has been held in accordance with Section 37.009(a). If the teacher removed the student from class because the student has engaged in the elements of any offense listed in Section 37.006(a)(2)(B) or Section 37.007(a)(2)(A) or (b)(2)(C) against the teacher, the student may not be returned to the teacher's class without the teacher's written consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent.

(f) A student may appeal the student's removal from class under this section to: (1) the school's placement review committee established under Section 37.003; or (2) the campus's threat assessment and safe and supportive school team established under Section 37.115, in accordance with a district policy providing for such an appeal to be made to the team.

(f-1) The principal, campus behavior coordinator, or other appropriate administrator shall, at the conference required under Section 37.009(a), notify a student who has been removed from class under this section and the parent of or person standing in parental relation to the student of the student's right to appeal under Subsection (f).

(g) Section 37.004 applies to the removal or placement under this section of a student with a disability who receives special education services.

(e) A student who is sent to the campus behavior coordinator's or other administrator's office under Subsection (a) or removed from class under Subsection (b) is not considered to have been removed from the classroom for the purposes of reporting data through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) or other similar reports required by state or federal law.

(a) The agency may not withhold any state funding or impose a penalty on a school district based on the number of students in the district that have been removed from a classroom, placed into in-school or out-of-school suspension, placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or a juvenile justice alternative education program, or expelled.

(b) This section may not be construed to limit the agency from taking any action to enforce requirements under federal law related to a determination of significant disproportionality based on the race and ethnicity of students with disabilities.

(a) In this section, "disciplinary proceeding" means: (1) an action brought by the school district employing a professional employee of a school district to discharge or suspend the employee or terminate or not renew the employee's term contract; or (2) an action or proceeding brought by the State Board for Educator Certification.

(b) A professional employee of a school district may not be subject to disciplinary proceedings for: (1) the reporting of a violation of Chapter 37 to another professional employee of a school district, the agency, or a law enforcement agency; or (2) an action taken in good faith to remove a student from class under Section 37.002.

(a-1) In adopting criteria described by Subsection (a)(1), the commissioner shall ensure that a teacher may not be assigned an area of deficiency in an appraisal solely on the basis of disciplinary referrals made by the teacher or documentation regarding student conduct submitted by the teacher under Section 37.002. This subsection does not prohibit a teacher from being assigned an area of deficiency based on documented evidence of a deficiency in classroom management obtained through observation or a substantiated report.