Imagine having to remove your shoes and socks every day so they can be inspected before you are allowed to enter your workplace. That's what students attending the McKinney Independent School District's Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) school experience each morning before they can go to class. It's part of the very rigorous disciplinary program that is imposed on students who have been removed from their regular schools in the MISD and assigned to the DAEP school as a result of serious misconduct.
If your child has been accused of serious misconduct at their regular school, you may have only a few days to act before they are assigned to McKinney's DAEP for an extended period of time that can range from months to even an entire school year or longer. You might have no idea what to do when you receive the notice from your child's school that DAEP placement may be happening, and it may seem as though your conference with the school administrator about the situation is unlikely to result in your child staying at their present school.
That's why you need the help of an experienced student defense attorney-advisor. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team have worked with students accused of serious misconduct in schools all over the United States including Texas. They understand how important it can be to move quickly, to independently investigate the misconduct allegations, and to respectfully but firmly challenge administrators when their actions may violate your child's rights.
What Your Child Can Expect at McKinney's DAEP School
The McKinney DAEP is housed at the McKinney Learning Center. Students assigned to the DAEP have a vastly different school experience from those attending McKinney's other schools. From the moment they start their days, they need to be concerned with following a long list of rules that regulate what they wear, what they can bring with them to school, how they enter the school, how they behave when they're inside the school, how they are taught, and even how they eat their lunches.
The McKinney DAEP dress code is strict. It is described in the DAEP Student Handbook, and includes the following requirements:
- A collared shirt, white, navy, or black with no markings or patterns
- A white, navy, or black t-shirt. All shirts must be worn tucked in
- A plain white, navy, or black sweatshirt is permitted during winter months, worn over the collared shirt
- Khaki/tan dress-style pants (no cargo pants allowed)
- Brown or black belt, no studs or markings, no “large or ornate” buckles
- Lace-up, closed-toe shoes
- No hair accessories such as bows, ribbons, colored extensions
- “Offensive” tattoos must be covered
- Jewelry is prohibited
DEAP students are prohibited from bringing the following to school:
- Backpacks, bags, or purses
- Wallets, phones, keys, and feminine hygiene items, all of which must be checked before the students enter the school
Students may bring their school-assigned computer, their homework, their lunch (no outside drinks are allowed), and not more than $3.00.
At the beginning of the day, students must remove their shoes and socks and present them for inspection. They must do the same with their pockets, which they are required to pull inside out. If they bring their lunch, their lunch will be inspected. They must put their checked items (phone, wallet, keys, etc.) in a plastic zipped bag.
Each day they wear a colored wristband that corresponds with their behavior level from the previous day. Green wristbands result in more freedom during the school day (including 30 minutes of “personal time” and use of the juice machine at lunch), with yellow and red resulting in progressively less. A student wearing a red wristband, for example, must work in a cubicle; they may only speak with their teacher and not with other students, and their lunch is brought to them at their cubicle, where they are required to eat alone.
Clearly, the day-to-day experience for students at McKinney's DAEP is vastly different than the day-to-day experience at the other public schools in the McKinney Independent School District. While of course it's important to maintain a safe and structured learning environment in a school that is educating students with disciplinary issues, for a student who is suddenly uprooted from their regular school and assigned to the DAEP, it will come as a tremendous shock. That's why it's so important to have the help of an experienced attorney-advisor if you receive notice that your child may be assigned to McKinney's DAEP.
Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team have seen time and time again how an incomplete investigation of a misconduct allegation, or a hasty or improper administrative hearing or conference can cause a student to suffer discipline that is completely unwarranted. They understand that not every misconduct allegation is true or accurate, and they can help you investigate and complete the picture that school administrators frequently don't have the time, skills, or inclination to finish.
The McKinney Independent School District Code of Conduct
McKinney schools all operate under the same district-wide code of conduct. It covers all of the MISD's 22 elementary schools, as well as the following middle and high schools:
Middle Schools
- Cockrill Middle School
- Dowell Middle School
- Evans Middle School
- Faubion Middle School
- Scott Johnson Middle School
High Schools
- McKinney Boyd High School
- McKinney High School
- McKinney North High School
Other Schools
- CRC/DAEP/MLC (McKinney Learning Center)
- Serenity High
The Student Code of Conduct lists types of misconduct that “May Result in DAEP Placement,” and misconduct that “Requires DAEP Placement.”
Types of student misconduct that may result in the student being assigned to McKinney's DAEP include:
- Serious bullying that encourages suicide or incites violence against another student
- Being involved in a criminal street gang
- Sending or threatening to send intimate images of a minor student, or of a student over the age of 18 without their consent
- Lower-level criminal mischief (not felony-level)
- Pledging or being a member of any school fraternity, sorority, secret society, or gang
In addition, a student can be placed in McKinney's DAEP if the MISD superintendent believes the student may have committed certain felonies away from school and if they also believe the student will disrupt class or threaten the safety of the school.
Misconduct that requires a DAEP assignment includes the following:
- Making a “terroristic threat” or a bomb scare
- Assaulting and injuring another student or faculty member
- Having, giving away, selling, or being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs
- Abusing “volatile chemicals” such as paint or glue
- Acting in a way consistent with the crimes of public lewdness or indecent exposure
- Committing a felony on or within 300 feet of school property
- Committing a felony away from school property, under certain circumstance
Whether it's conduct that may result in a DAEP placement or conduct that must result in a DAEP placement, it's important to make sure that your child's school has thoroughly investigated the alleged misconduct. That's where schools often fail and where an experienced school discipline attorney-advisor can help. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team can help make sure that your child's school isn't acting on half of the story. They can help you make sure that the school takes the disciplinary process seriously, and respects your child's rights.
Disciplinary Proceedings and DAEP Placement in McKinney
Once a student is removed from the classroom as a result of alleged misconduct that can lead to a DAEP assignment, the school will notify the parent in writing and must schedule a conference with the parent and the student within three school days. The time period between when you learn of the misconduct and that conference is critical. It's where you have some time to learn more about the incident that resulted in your child being removed from class and that led up to the possible DAEP placement.
Investigating these situations is never easy, but it's vital if you want to uncover anything that might help your child. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team can help with this; they have coordinated and conducted many of these types of investigations in the past, and they can work with you to try to uncover details about the situation that busy school administrators may have missed.
They can also make sure that the school is following MISD policy and Texas law. For example, administrators are required to consider mitigating factors when they make DAEP placement decisions, such as whether the student was acting in self-defense, what their intent was at the time of the alleged misconduct, the student's past disciplinary record, and whether they have a disability that impacts their capacity to appreciate that their conduct was wrong. And, in some cases, the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team can draw on their years of experience with student disciplinary proceedings all over the US to suggest alternative forms of discipline that will allow your child to remain in their present school while still respecting the school's need to maintain order.
If, however, the school administrator decides after the conference to assign your child to McKinney's DAEP, they will issue a “placement order” that will also state how the assignment will be. There are no set periods of DAEP placement for specific violations; how long your child will be assigned to DAEP is left to the discretion of the school administrator on a “case by case” basis.
If the placement is to exceed 60 days, you will have the opportunity to “participate in a proceeding” before the MISD school board or a board designee to discuss the placement. And while a one-year assignment is supposedly the maximum, it may exceed that if the MISD makes a determination that your child is a threat to other students or school employees.
Appeals of DAEP Placement in McKinney
If your child is assigned to McKinney's DAEP, you can appeal. There are three levels of appeals:
- Level 1 Appeal. A Level 1 appeal is made to the school principal (or other school official designated to receive the appeal). It must be filed within 15 days of the placement order, and the school official must schedule a conference based on the appeal within 7 days of receiving the request, and must respond within 7 days of the conference.
- Level 2 Appeal. If the Level 1 appeal is not successful, a Level 2 appeal may be filed with the MISD superintendent. It needs to be filed within 7 days of receiving the response to the Level 1 appeal (or of the 7-day deadline for a response expiring). The superintendent shall hold a conference on the Level 2 appeal within 7 days of receiving it, and shall have 7 days after the conference to respond.
- Level 3 Appeal. Finally, if the Level 2 appeal is not successful, you may file a Level 3 appeal with the MISD Board. The Board will place the appeal on the agenda for its next regularly scheduled meeting, and shall issue its decision (in writing or orally) at any time through the next scheduled Board meeting.
The best way to make sure you file a compelling appeal is to work with an experienced student discipline attorney-advisor who has seen many, many similar cases and has experience with school discipline appeals and conferences. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team have that experience. They will make sure any appeal filed is as strong, clear, and forceful as it can be, and can help you and your child prepare for and participate in appeal conferences.
How a Student Discipline Defense Attorney Can Help Your Child Avoid DAEP Placement in McKinney
Working with an experienced school discipline attorney-advisor can make a huge difference in the outcome of what may seem like a terrible school misconduct situation involving your child. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team have the experience and the tenacity to help find the facts that can help your child, to question the school's witnesses and administrators respectfully but effectively, and to make sure that the school and the district respect your child's legal rights in this difficult situation.
The most important thing you can do is to call Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Discipline Defense Team as soon as you learn that your child may be placed in McKinney's DAEP. Time is short in these situations and every hour counts. Call 888.535.3686 today, or schedule a confidential consultation now by using the online form.
