As a parent, you want what's best for your kids. You know that a good education will be the foundation of many opportunities. To provide the best education for them, you have chosen to live in or around Keller, Texas, and enroll your child in the Keller Independent School District (Keller ISD).
Believing that Keller ISD schools are committed to the best interests of their students, you trust teachers, administrators, coaches, and staff to guide, teach, and protect your child. You want your child to learn and grow in a safe environment, supported as they develop the academic, emotional, and social skills needed to navigate their future.
Because of the faith you placed in the Keller ISD, you may feel surprised and betrayed to learn that your child has been referred to a disciplinary alternative education placement (DAEP) program or sentenced to another form of exclusionary discipline.
You know the DAEP placement will isolate your child from their teachers, coaches, friends, classmates, and teammates and disrupt their academic, social, and emotional growth. It's up to you to protect your child from their school and DAEP program, and the Lento Law Firm can help.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team defends students in the Keller ISD from extreme exclusionary discipline, including diversion into a DAEP program.
With experienced education law attorneys in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and across Texas, the Lento Law Firm knows the Keller ISD and its DAEP program. If your student faces a DAEP referral, contact our Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or complete a confidential consultation form.
The Keller Independent School District in Texas
The Keller ISD serves over 34,000 students from Keller, Texas, and the surrounding communities of Colleyville, Fort Worth, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills, South Lake, Watauga, and Westlake.
Keller ISD's public middle and intermediate schools include Bear Creek Intermediate School, Fossil Hill Middle School, Hillwood Middle School, Indian Springs Middle School, Keller Middle School, Parkwood Hill Intermediate School, Trinity Meadows Intermediate School, Timberview Middle School, Trinity Springs Middle School, and Vista Ridge Middle School.
Keller ISD's public high schools are Central High School, Fossil Ridge High School, Keller Collegiate Academy, Keller High School, and Timber Creek High School.
The district also operates the Keller Compass Center which consists of two distinct programs: the New Direction High School and Keller ISD's DAEP program.
The Keller ISD neighbors other Fort Worth area school districts, such as:
- Birdville Independent School District
- Carroll Independent School District
- Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District
- Fort Worth Independent School District
- Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District
- Northwest Independent School District
If your child receives a DAEP referral from a school in the Keller ISD or any Texas district, the Student Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm can help you contest the placement. Your student deserves more than the isolation of an alternative education program.
Student Discipline in the Keller Independent School District
Throughout Texas, school districts create student codes of conduct that outline prohibited behavior and the consequences of violations, including when the school may remove a student from their school and place them in a DAEP. Keller ISD's code of conduct organizes prohibited conduct into broad categories such as:
- Misconduct Involving Others, such as horseplay, fighting, bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, threatening other students or staff, and hazing.
- Possessing, Using, Giving, Selling, Buying, or Offering to Sell or Buy Prohibited Items, such as tobacco products, e-cigarettes, fireworks, weapons, ammunition, and sexually oriented material.
- Misuse of Property, including stealing, vandalism, and starting or attempting to start a fire.
- Safety/Disruption, including threatening to use a firearm, throwing objects that can cause bodily injury, making threats, participating in false statements or hoaxes relating to threats to other students and school safety, and making false accusations.
- Technology, including sending, possessing, or posting messages, videos, recordings, or pictures that are abusive, sexually oriented, harassing, and using AI in a manner that harms other students, disrupts the school or violates district policy.
- Failure to Follow Rules, such as violating dress code, skipping school, and violating rules of use for computers, internet access, and other electronic devices.
- Other Misconduct, such as falsifying school records, gambling, and attempting to violate the student code of conduct.
DAEP Referral in the Keller Independent School District
According to Keller ISD's code of conduct, a student faces mandatory DAEP placement if they take the following actions on or near school property or at a school event:
- Commits a felony or assault resulting in bodily injury.
- Sells, distributes, possesses, or uses a controlled substance, dangerous drug, marijuana, THC, alcohol, or e-cigarette.
- Engages in an offense involving volatile chemicals.
- Engages in public lewdness.
- Harasses a school employee.
- Possesses or uses a firearm.
Under Keller ISD's code of conduct, the following student conduct violations that may result in a discretionary DAEP placement include:
- Committing any offense included in the code of conduct's list of “General Types of Prohibited Misconduct.”
- Engaging in persistent misbehavior in violation of the code of conduct.
- Bullying that encourages a student to commit or attempt to commit suicide.
- Incitement of violence against a student through group bullying
- Involvement in criminal street gang activity.
- Any criminal mischief.
- Assault with threat of imminent bodily injury.
- Assault by offensive or provocative physical contact.
Placement in a DAEP is a severe punishment and should be reserved to address the most dangerous student misconduct. By allowing DAEP referrals for any of the general types of prohibited misconduct, Keller ISD provides itself with the authority to harshly punish students with a DAEP for minor infractions.
If Keller ISD has sentenced your child to an extreme exclusionary sanction for a minor violation, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team. We can partner with you to seek a fair and proportionate punishment.
The DAEP Disciplinary Processes and the Keller Independent School District
In Keller ISD, if your child has been removed from class, the campus administrator will schedule a conference with the student and the student's parent within three days of they misconduct.
At the hearing, the campus administrator will provide the students with information about the reasons for removal, an explanation of the basis for the proposed DAEP placement, and an opportunity to respond and explain their conduct.
When determining if a student should be referred to DAEP, the following mitigating factors must be considered:
- Whether the student acted in self-defense.
- The student's intent or lack of intent when they engaged in the prohibited conduct.
- The student's disciplinary history.
- Whether the student has a disability that greatly impairs their understanding of the wrongfulness of their conduct
- Whether the student is homeless.
- Whether the student is in foster care.
These mitigating factors are considered for every DAEP referral, including those violations that qualify for a mandatory DAEP.
Importantly, an emergency DAEP placement can be ordered when a student's behavior is so disruptive or abusive that it seriously undermines a teacher's ability to teach, the learning of other students, or the operation of the school. A hearing to consider the regular placement of the student in a DAEP program must be held no later than 10 days after the emergency placement.
Once a student is sent to DAEP, it becomes more likely they will return to DAEP. It is important to contest your child's first referral to a DAEP because disciplinary history will be considered when determining the appropriate discipline for future misconduct. Let the Lento Law Firm fight any DAEP or other exclusionary discipline and help your child avoid a problematic discipline record.
DAEP Appeal Rights in the Keller Independent School District
If your student receives a DAEP placement, only limited appeal rights are available in the Keller ISD. An appeal with the Keller ISD Student Services Department is generally the only avenue available. Aspects of a DAEP placement involving the criminal conduct of the disciplined student may allow an appeal to the Keller ISD's Board of Trustees.
Importantly, the imposition of disciplinary consequences cannot be delayed pending an appeal. A student referred to a DAEP program will attend their alternative placement while the appeals are ongoing.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you determine your student's DAEP appeal rights, the best approach to exercising their rights, and when to submit or file an appeal.
DAEP Programs in Keller, Texas
Every Texas school district must create and implement a DAEP option for elementary and secondary students whose misconduct warrants removal from their regular learning environment. By law, every DAEP program in Texas must:
- Operate in a setting other than the student's regular classroom.
- Separate students assigned to a DAEP from students who are not assigned a DAEP.
- Implement a curriculum focused on English language arts, mathematics, science, history, and self-discipline.
- Address students' educational and behavioral needs.
- Provide supervision and counseling.
- Employ certified teachers.
Despite these requirements, alternative placements can be extremely disruptive and challenging for vulnerable students to navigate. There is no evidence that your child will have the educational, emotional, and social support they need to learn or better manage their behavior.
If you are concerned about the impact of a DAEP program on your child, we can help. Let the experienced attorneys with the Lento Law Firm defend your child from a disciplinary placement in an alternative education program.
Let the Lento Law Firm Defend Your Student from Placement in a DAEP Program
When students misbehave, they should expect to receive an appropriate punishment. If it's your child who acted impulsively or violated a student code of conduct, you understand that a proportional penalty may be necessary. But if you learn that your child is subjected to disproportionate and exclusionary discipline policies, it's up to you to protect them, and you don't have to do it alone.
If Keller ISD may refer your child to a DAEP program, you can partner with our Student Defense Team to develop and execute a comprehensive student defense strategy.
Before, during, and after a DAEP referral conference, our experienced education law attorneys can:
- Review the allegations against your child.
- Analyze the school's actions to ensure compliance with district policies and that all notice and due process requirements were met.
- Identify evidence and document the mitigating factors that should be considered during the DAEP hearing.
- Prepare you and your child for any conference or hearing with school or school district officials.
If a conference ends with your child diverted into an alternative education program, the Lento Law Firm can navigate the appeal process on your behalf with the Keller ISD Student Services Department.
Protect Your Child from DAEP Programs
A student's placement in a DAEP can have a profound impact on their education and their future. You don't want your child to suffer the stigma or isolation of a DAEP placement.
Students placed in a DAEP cannot participate in extra-curricular activities. Vulnerable kids may suffer when they are cut off from the teams, clubs, or other school organizations that provide structure and social or emotional support.
Additionally, placement in a new school with a new curriculum disrupts the academic work that was already occurring. It is unlikely that a student will thrive academically when a short-term DAEP placement interrupts the regular school year and curriculum.
You know your student will suffer in a DAEP. Let our Student Defense Team fight to keep your student in the stable academic environment they need.
Partner with the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team
Because DAEP placements occur quickly, parents are too often left behind and unable to keep up with the district's harsh treatment of their students. Don't let Keller ISD sentence your child to their DAEP program without a fight. Because the stakes are high, the Lento Law Firm is the partner you need. Let us challenge the placement while you care for your child.
At the Lento Law Firm, our experienced education law attorneys can provide your student with the DAEP defense they need and deserve. Contact the Lento Law Firm and our Student Defense Team by phone at 888-535-3686 or complete the form online and tell us about your case.
