All parents expect great things from their children. From the moment they entered your lives, you've wondered who they are going to become - a football star, a scientist, or maybe a lawyer. You want them to succeed so they can be able to take care of themselves as they age. For most kids though, their real dreams for their future start when they are in high school. The one thing you both can agree on is the importance of a high school diploma and preparing for college.
Many children experience challenges in high school, but some experience more severe ones than their peers, and others get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. When this happens, it can ruin their chances of getting into the college of their choice or even going to college at all. Hiring an attorney-advisor is the best way to ensure your child's future is protected. They have worked so hard, you don't want disciplinary action to impede them from starting the life you've always dreamed of. Call the Lento Law Firm today.
Avoid Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement in Lubbock, Texas
If your child is accused of academic or behavioral misconduct by their Lubbock, Texas, high school, they could receive several different kinds of sanctions. The types of sanctions the school will impose will generally depend on the severity of their alleged misconduct. Sometimes, schools will choose to send their students to disciplinary alternative education placements (DAEP). This option tends to be particularly popular because it allows schools to avoid having to really deal with troubled students.
DAEPs in Texas were created to help students with behavioral or academic issues continue to learn while also serving their punishment of suspension or expulsion. Unfortunately, these placements tend to be very difficult for most students, pushing them to question their identities, experience self-loathing, and increase their inappropriate behavior. Moreover, DAEPs usually have substandard educational curriculums, support services, faculty training, and a chaotic student culture.
The point is, you do not want your child placed in one of these programs without a fight. Working with an attorney-advisor who is experienced in fighting disciplinary alternative education placements around the country is the best way to ensure your child is able to complete their high school education with their classmates in their traditional high school setting. Attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team have years of experience helping students from kindergarten to high school navigate such disciplinary proceedings and avoid disciplinary alternative education placement. Call us today.
Texas Education Code & Disciplinary Alternative Placement
Under the Texas Education Code, the Texas public school system must provide its students with quality education so that they can excel in the future. One goal of the Texas Education Code is to keep all students in high school until they graduate, and the other is to create and maintain a safe environment for their students. The Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement (DAEP) program was created to reinforce these goals.
What is the DAEP in Lubbock, Texas?
The DAEP was adopted into law in 1995. Lawmakers hoped that the DAEP would provide educational settings for children who are temporarily - or permanently - removed from their regular instruction. For instance, prior to 1995, if a student was suspended, they were removed from the classroom and forced to stay home. But after 1995, the suspended student would be sent to an alternative education program for the suspension period. DAEPs are not supposed to be permanent placements, and while the original placement period can be extended, it cannot be extended indefinitely. All students are supposed to return to their traditional education setting at some point.
DAEP Requirements
To have a valid DAEP in Lubbock, Texas, the school district must meet the following criteria:
- Employing only certified teachers.
- Teacher training to help them handle behaviors and safety procedures more easily.
- Provide supervision and counseling to students.
- Address the educational and behavioral needs of their students.
- Focus on English Language arts, science, history, mathematics, and self-discipline.
- Offer the DAEP in another setting than the traditional classroom.
Limitations to DAEP
DAEP placements are not supposed to be used for minor offenses - like tardiness or unexcused absences. In the Lubbock Independent School District code of conduct, the district states that DAEP removals should only be considered if all other options and restorative justice practices have been exhausted. If your school continues to push for a DAEP removal, your attorney-advisor will be able to point this fact out to the school and negotiate another option for your child.
Student Codes of Conduct in Lubbock, Texas
Every high school in Lubbock, Texas, is allowed to use certain types of discipline on their students, but only if their actions arise to a particular level. Additionally, under the Texas Education Code, Texas high schools must create specific codes of conduct that state what conditions and circumstances would allow the school to discipline - or remove - the child.
In the Lubbock Independent School District, students receive the student code of conduct at the beginning of each year. If a student violates this code with one of the following behaviors, they will be subject to disciplinary action, which could include a DAEP. The code of conduct includes rules about:
- Failing to comply with school personnel.
- Leaving school grounds without permission.
- Disobeying the rules on district vehicles.
- Refusing to accept discipline management techniques the principal assigns.
- Using profanity or making obscene gestures.
- Fighting.
- Threatening a school employee, peer, or volunteer on campus and off.
- Cyberbullying or bullying, harassment, or making hit lists.
- Releasing or threatening to release intimate visual material of a minor or student who is 18 without their consent.
- Engaging in sexual or gender-based harassment or sexual abuse.
- Engaging in dating violence.
- Recording the voice or image of another without their consent.
- Engaging in inappropriate physical, verbal, or sexual conduct.
- Hazing other students.
- Committing blackmail or extortion.
- Causing someone to act in a certain way by forcing them or threatening to force them.
- Stealing from students, staff, and the school.
- Vandalizing school property with graffiti.
- Vandalizing school property or property owned by others.
- Committing or assisting in a robbery or theft.
- Having any kind of weapon, dangerous instrument, or weapon look-alike on campus or at a school-sponsored event.
- Using the internet or cell phone inappropriately.
- Violating dress code or gambling.
Additionally, a school might opt to impose an emergency removal of your child. However, schools are only allowed to conduct emergency removals for specific reasons, and emergency DAEP placements can only happen if the student is so unruly and disruptive that it seriously affects how the other students are able to learn. Examples of such conduct include:
- Criminal homicide
- Smuggling of people
- Sexual offenses
- Human trafficking
- Aggravated robbery
- Assault
- Unlawful restraint
- Kidnapping
If students are removed under the emergency removal statute for one of the above reasons, they usually have to stay in the DAEP until they graduate, the charges are dropped or reduced, or their placement period ends.
Alternatively, students in Lubbock, Texas, high schools could be placed in a juvenile justice alternative education program (JJAEP). However, this placement is reserved for students who have committed specific criminal offenses like sexual offenses that put them on the registered sex offenders list. For those cases, students are placed in JJAEP for at least one semester and then returned to their regular classrooms.
Lubbock DAEP Proceedings
When your child is accused of a code of conduct violation, whether it is an academic violation or a behavioral one, they will be referred for a disciplinary hearing. At this hearing, the school board is supposed to provide you and your child with a chance to argue against the accusations. Working with an attorney-advisor will ensure your child is able to properly defend themselves. After both sides have presented their arguments, evidence, and witness testimony, they will have a chance to cross-examine the other sides before the board comes to their conclusion.
The board will review both the arguments and all of the supporting evidence and witness testimony and determine whether it supports the likelihood that the student committed the alleged misconduct. If they agree that the student is responsible for the misconduct, they will decide what punishment to impose. In cases where they impose suspension or expulsion, they must also determine the alternative education placement for the student. In making their original decision, they will take into account the following factors:
- If the student acted in self-defense.
- The student's disciplinary history - or lack thereof.
- Whether the student is homeless.
- What the student's intent was when they engaged in the accused conduct.
- Whether the student is in a protective services conservatorship.
- Whether the student has a disability that greatly impairs their ability to understand the difference between right and wrong.
The Lento Law Firm understands how confusing this process can be and will work diligently to make sure you and your child understand the proceedings and the rights the school owes them. They will also create a strategic defense to combat any argument the school might try to bring so as to prevent any unnecessary punishments for your child. Unfortunately, many parents decide to attempt to defend their child themselves and end up being wholly unsuccessful. Your child's future is at stake here; get the help of Attorney-advisor Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team.
Appealing a DAEP in Lubbock, Texas
If the board determines that your child is responsible and decides to place them on suspension or expulsion, and thus into a DAEP, you still have the right to appeal the decision. In Lubbock, appeals must be made to the central administration office, the principal's office, or the campus behavior coordinator's office. The specific instructions for how to file the appeal will be listed in the decision letter. Generally, though, you will have between 5 and 10 days to appeal, and you must include specific grounds for why you are making the appeal. Once the appeal is reviewed, the appeals committee will decide if your child should still be placed into a DAEP, if the matter should be reviewed again, or if it should be dismissed completely.
Appeals may sound overwhelming, especially after pursuing the original proceeding. But the reality is they are just as important as the first hearing. Appeals allow you another chance to prove your argument and should always be pursued. If the idea of appealing your child's punishment sounds stressful, call the Lento Law Firm today. We can help shoulder that burden for you.
How a Student Defense Attorney Can Help Your Child Avoid DAEP Placement in Lubbock, Texas
Students make mistakes, but those mistakes shouldn't turn into lifelong consequences. When your child is accused of misconduct at school and placed into a DAEP, it can greatly alter the trajectory of their life. Not only will they be removed from their regular classroom setting and their friends, but they will also be placed in a setting with inferior instruction and accommodations and exposed to the juvenile justice system. Additionally, the inferior instruction will impact their ability to reintegrate into their classrooms once the placement is over because they would have fallen behind on their education while away. This can lead to serious limitations in their self-worth, repeat DAEP placements, and potentially lead to dropping out of high school.
Attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team have worked with high school students all over the country, which gives them a tremendous amount of knowledge and understanding when it comes to DAEPs. They will be able to utilize this experience to leverage a better outcome for your child. Call 888-535-3686 today or schedule a consultation online. The Lento Law Firm can help.
