85R2078 KJE-F     By: Raymond H.B. No. 3580       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to a policy of a school district concerning possession of a   telecommunications device by a student.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 37.082, Education Code, is amended to   read as follows:          Sec. 37.082.  POSSESSION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS [PAGING]   DEVICES.  (a)  The board of trustees of a school district may adopt a   policy prohibiting a student from possessing a telecommunications    [paging] device while on school property or while attending a   school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school   property. The policy may establish disciplinary measures to be   imposed for violation of the prohibition and may provide for   confiscation of the telecommunications [paging] device.          (b)  A [The] policy adopted under Subsection (a) may provide   for the district to[:                [(1)]  dispose of a confiscated telecommunications    [paging] device in any reasonable manner after having provided the   student's parent and any [the] company whose name and address or   telephone number appear on the device 30 days' prior notice of the   district's [its] intent to dispose of that device unless the device   is reclaimed in accordance with this section before the end of the   30-day period.          (b-1)  The notice under Subsection (b):                (1)  must [shall] include the serial number of the   telecommunications device; and                (2)  may be made by telephone[, telegraph,] or in   writing.          (b-2)  A school district may [; and (2)]  charge the owner   of the telecommunications device or the student's parent an   administrative fee not to exceed $50 [$15] before the district [it]   releases the device.          (c)  In this section, "telecommunications [paging] device"   means a [telecommunications] device designed primarily for the   purpose of making a phone call or of sending [that emits an audible   signal, vibrates, displays] a message electronically. The term   includes a smartphone.[, or otherwise summons or delivers a   communication to the possessor.     The term does not include an   amateur radio under the control of an operator who holds an amateur   radio station license issued by the Federal Communications   Commission.]          SECTION 2.  This Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018   school year.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives   a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as   provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this   Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this   Act takes effect September 1, 2017.