TCTA Survival Guide

A word about
TCTA’s annual
Survival Guide

The Texas Classroom
Teachers Association’s
Survival Guide provides
up-to-date information on
education-related topics
for Texas teaching
professionals. Please note that the Survival Guide does not substitute for the advice of an attorney. Members who have questions or need further information may contact the TCTA staff by calling (888) 879-8282 or by sending an e-mail message
to webmaster@tcta.org.
General questions of a
legal nature may be sent
online using our
“ask-a-lawyer” response
center at tcta.org.

- Please note -
Information contained in the TCTA Survival Guide is current as of summer 2008, but is subject to change. To be sure what you are viewing is current, the date the information was posted or updated will be located at the bottom of each page.

Thanks to Mike Davis of Baytown, TX brother of TCTA Director of Legislation Ann Fickel, for granting permission to use his beautiful bird photos from Kenya, Costa Rica and the Baytown Nature Center.

Copyright © 2008, Texas Classroom Teachers Association®. All rights reserved.

Student discipline rights and responsibilities*

Grounds for:	Nondisabled students**
Removal by teacher	A teacher may send a student to the principal to maintain effective classroom discipline. (Sec. 37.002(a)) A teacher may remove a student from class after documenting repeated interference with the teacher’s ability to communicate with the class OR if the student engages in behavior so unruly, disruptive, or abusive that it seriously interferes with instruction. (Sec. 37.002(b)) Following removal, the principal may place the student in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP), in-school suspension, or another teacher’s class. A teacher must remove from class and send to the principal any student who engages in conduct for which the student must be placed in a DAEP or for which the student may or must be expelled. (Sec. 37.002(d); see also Secs. 37.006 and 37.007) A conference must be held within three class days of the removal, during which time the student may not be returned to the regular classroom. A removed student cannot be returned to the teacher’s classroom over the teacher’s objection unless the Placement Review Committee finds that the placement is the best or the only alternative. If the teacher removed the student from class because the student has engaged in an offense of assault causing bodily injury against the teacher, the student may not be returned to the teacher’s class without the teacher’s consent. The teacher may not be coerced to consent. (Sec. 37.002(c) and 37.002(d)).
Suspension	A student may be suspended for engaging in any conduct that could place the student in a DAEP. Additional grounds for suspension may be developed by the district and must be defined in the district’s Student Code of Conduct. A student may be suspended for up to three days at a time.
Removal to Disciplinary Alternative Education Program	A school district must place in a DAEP any student who engages in the following conduct that occurs on or within 300 feet of school property or while the student is attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property: Conduct punishable as a felony; Offense constituting terroristic threat, assault that causes injury, or false alarm or report; Transfers/possesses/uses or is under the influence of marijuana, controlled substances, or dangerous drugs; Transfers/possesses/uses or commits a serious offense while under the influence of alcohol; Conduct containing the elements of abuse of volatile chemicals; Conduct containing the elements of public lewdness or indecent exposure. A student must be placed in a DAEP if, while off campus and not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity, the student receives deferred prosecution for offenses listed in Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code, i.e., violent offenses against the person; a court or jury finds that the student has engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct prohibited in Title 5; or the superintendent has a reasonable belief that the student engaged in conduct defined as a Title 5 felony offense. A student who is required to register as a sex offender must be placed in a DAEP or JJAEP for at least one semester. A student must be placed in a DAEP for engaging, whether or not on school property or at a school event, in conduct constituting retaliation, i.e., harming or threatening to harm by an unlawful act a school employee on account of the employee’s job-related duties. A student may be placed in a DAEP if the student, while off campus and not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity: Has engaged in (nonviolent) conduct defined as a felony offense OTHER than those defined under Title 5, Texas Penal Code (violent conduct), and the superintendent has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in such conduct; and The continued presence of the student in the regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or teachers or will be detrimental to the educational process. The board of trustees of a school district, or the board’s designee, after an opportunity for a hearing may elect to place a student in a DAEP if the student: Receives deferred prosecution for conduct defined as a felony; Engages in delinquent conduct defined as a felony; or If the board or the board’s designee determines that the student’s presence in the regular classroom: Threatens the safety of other students or teachers; Will be detrimental to the educational process or is not in the best interests of the district’s students. When a student is removed to a DAEP, a conference is required within three days of removal. The school board or its designee must review a student’s status, including academic status, at least every 120 days. For high school students, progress toward graduation requirements must be reviewed and a specific plan developed. An elementary school student may not be placed in a DAEP with nonelementary school students. Students younger than age 6 may not be removed to a DAEP, unless they bring a firearm to school.
Expulsion or Removal to DAEP, JJAEP	A student may be expelled or placed in a DAEP or JJAEP if the student has received deferred prosecution for conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code; has been found by a court or jury to have engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code; is charged with engaging in conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code; has been referred to a juvenile court for allegedly engaging in delinquent conduct or conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code; has received probation or deferred adjudication for a felony offense under Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code; has been convicted of a felony offense under Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code; or has been arrested for or charged with a felony offense under Title 5 of the Texas Penal Code. (NOTE: Certain instances described here require mandatory removal to DAEP.)
Expulsion	A student must be expelled for committing any of the following serious offenses while on school property or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity: Uses, exhibits, or possesses a firearm, illegal knife, club, or other prohibited weapon; or Commits the elements of any of the following offenses: aggravated assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, arson, murder, indecency with a child, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, or drug- or alcohol-related offenses punishable as a felony. A student must be expelled for committing any of the above offenses in retaliation against a school employee on or off school property. A student may be expelled if, while on or within 300 feet of school property or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related event, the student: Sells/gives/delivers/possesses or is under the influence of marijuana, controlled substances, dangerous drugs, or alcoholic beverages; or Engages in conduct containing the elements of offenses related to abuse of volatile chemicals; or Engages in serious or persistent misbehavior occurring while placed in a DAEP; or Assaults and causes injury to an employee or volunteer, including in retaliation for the employee’s or volunteer’s duties in the district or commits a terroristic threat against a teacher; or Engages in conduct containing the elements of deadly conduct; or Uses, exhibits, or possesses a firearm, illegal knife, club, or other prohibited weapon; or Engages in conduct containing the elements of aggravated assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, arson, murder, indecency with a child, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, or drug- or alcohol-related offenses punishable as a felony. A student may be expelled from school by the district in which the student attends school if the student while on school property of another district in this state or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity of a school in another district in this state: Uses, exhibits, or possesses a firearm, illegal knife, club, or other prohibited weapon; or Engages in conduct containing the elements of aggravated assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, arson, murder, indecency with a child, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, or drug- or alcohol-related offenses punishable as a felony. A student may be expelled if the student: Engages in conduct containing the elements of felonious criminal mischief; or Engages in school-related conduct involving false report or alarm, or terroristic threat. Students under age 10 cannot be expelled, although they can be sent to DAEPs. A teacher must be informed by the district if one of the teacher’s students has committed any of the above offenses. (NOTE: A teacher must keep this information confidential, or risk certificate sanctions.) A student must be given a hearing before expulsion occurs.
Emergency removal	• A principal (or designee) may order the immediate removal of a student to a DAEP or may order expulsion if the student’s behavior is such that it seriously interferes with the teacher’s ability to communicate with the class or with the operation of the school, or if action is necessary to prevent harm to persons or property. • The student shall receive oral notice of the reason for the action at the time of the emergency placement. A proper due process hearing must occur within a reasonable time after the placement or expulsion.

* Chapter 37 does not specify a minimum term of a disciplinary removal or expulsion, as these decisions are determined by local codes of conduct and school officials. [This chart is excerpted from the Texas Education Code, Section 37.002(a) to Section 37.019(c).]
** See page 38 for information on discipline of special education students and page 40 for information on restraint rules for students with disabilities.

Web posted: 08/06/08