Amarillo Independent School District has the same obligation and authority under Texas state law as other school districts to remove unruly students from the regular classroom and banish them to disciplinary alternative education placement (DAEP). DAEP is simply a fancy name for what everyone used to call boot camp or reform school, where regular schools send disruptive and dangerous students who have committed gang, drug, weapons, assault, or sexual misconduct wrongs. Don't let Amarillo ISD school officials shunt your student off to DAEP, destroying your student's relationships, reputation, and dreams. Call 888.535.3686 or use this contact form now to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team for your student's DAEP defense. The highly qualified attorneys out of our Dallas and El Paso offices are available for your student's Amarillo ISD school disciplinary defense.
Amarillo ISD Student Defense
Our Student Defense Team attorneys represent students across the Amarillo Independent School District. Do not retain unqualified local criminal defense or civil litigation attorneys. Effective DAEP placement defense requires our substantial knowledge, skills, and experience in school administrative disciplinary proceedings, entirely unlike court law, rules, and procedures. We can represent your student in any of the following Amarillo ISD elementary school, middle school, high school, academy, or choice or specialty programs:
Amarillo ISD High Schools
Amarillo High School; AmTech Career Academy; Caprock High School; North Heights Alternative School; Palo Duro High School; Tascosa High School.
Amarillo ISD Middle Schools
Allen 6th Grade Campus; Austin Middle School; Bonham Middle School; Bowie 6th Grade Campus; Bowie Middle School; Crockett Middle School; de Zavala Middle School; Fannin Middle School; Houston Middle School; Mann Middle School; Travis 6th Grade Campus; Travis Middle School.
Amarillo ISD Elementary Schools
Avondale Elementary School; Belmar Elementary School; Bivins Elementary School; Coronado Elementary School; Eastridge Elementary School; Emerson Elementary School; Forest Hill Elementary School; George Washington Carver Early Childhood Academy; George Washington Carver Elementary Academy; Glenwood Elementary School; Hamlet Elementary School; Humphreys Highland Elementary School; Lamar Elementary School; Landergin Elementary School; Lawndale Elementary School; Mesa Verde Elementary School; OakDale Elementary School; Olsen Park Elementary School; Paramount Terrace Elementary School; Park Hills Elementary School; Pleasant Valley Elementary School; Puckett Elementary School; Ridgecrest Elementary School; Rogers Elementary School; San Jacinto Elementary School; Sanborn Elementary School; Sleepy Hollow Elementary School; South Georgia Elementary School; South Lawn Elementary School; Sunrise Elementary School; Tradewind Elementary School; Western Plateau Elementary School; Whittier Elementary School; Wills Elementary School; Windsor Elementary School; Wolflin Elementary School; Woodlands Elementary School.
Amarillo ISD DAEP Programs
Texas Education Code Section 37.008 authorizes the removal of an unruly, disruptive, or dangerous student to a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) school. Without DAEP programs, disruptive and dangerous students who cannot remain in the regular classroom might be at home, on the street, in juvenile detention, or in jail or prison. In that respect, DAEP programs play an important role in offering education to the uneducable, meaning those students who cannot persist in the regular classroom. The Amarillo ISD maintains the North Heights Alternative School at 607 North Hughes Street in Amarillo. The North Heights staff members commit their best to their work. But DAEP programs fight uphill battles. Their retention, advancement, and graduation statistics are generally much worse than regular schools. Their graduates also generally reflect much less successful academic, mental health, juvenile delinquency, and criminal records. Don't let your student's school officials convince you to consent to your student's DAEP placement. Get our advice and representation for your student's best chance to remain in the regular classroom.
Amarillo ISD Student Codes of Conduct
Texas Education Code Sections 37.006, 37.007, and 37.008 authorize DAEP program placement under student codes of conduct that each Texas independent school district adopts. The Amarillo ISD's Student Code of Conduct authorizes DAEP placement for virtually any misconduct that the Student Code of Conduct identifies. Your student's risk of DAEP placement exists in the face of nearly any disciplinary charges, but especially when school officials seek short-term suspension, long-term suspension, expulsion, or other school removal. Let us help you and your student defend and defeat DAEP charges to keep your student in the regular classroom.
Amarillo ISD Grounds for Removal
Texas Education Code Sections 37.006, 37.007, and 37.008 authorize several specific grounds for school removal and DAEP placement. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct repeats most of those same statutory school removal and DAEP placement grounds. However, the Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct also adds an extensive list of General Conduct Violations warranting school removal while also authorizing DAEP placement for any of those violations. Amarillo ISD's Student Code of Conduct groups its literally hundreds of General Conduct Violations into the following categories:
- disregarding school authorities;
- mistreating others in the school community;
- damaging property of the school or others;
- possessing prohibited items at school;
- dealing drugs at school;
- misusing school technology or the internet, and
- causing school safety issues.
We can defend your student against any Amarillo ISD General Conduct Violation allegation seeking school removal and DAEP placement, no matter the nature or seriousness of those charges.
Amarillo ISD Discretionary DAEP
Texas Education Code Section 37.001 gives Amarillo ISD school officials broad discretion to seek DAEP placement. Discretionary DAEP placement indicates that school officials don't have to send your student for DAEP placement but may do so one way or the other. Discretion gives our attorneys the opportunity to advocate for your student's retention in the regular classroom. As indicated just above, the Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct authorizes discretionary DAEP placement for any General Conduct Violation. Your student could end up in a DAEP placement for as little as insubordination using profanity or any other minor violation under the Student Code of Conduct. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct goes on to list these additional statutory grounds for discretionary DAEP placement:
- bullying a student into a suicide attempt;
- group bullying triggering violence;
- misdemeanor criminal mischief (minor property damage);
- distributing intimate visual material without consent;
- assault threatening imminent injury;
- offensive or provocative physical contact, and
- fraternity, sorority, secret society, or street gang involvement.
Amarillo ISD Mandatory DAEP
While some student misconduct permits Amarillo ISD school officials to pursue DAEP placement, other student misconduct requires school officials to pursue DAEP placement. Texas Education Code Sections 37.006 and 37.007 list the forms of misconduct requiring mandatory DAEP placement. As in the case of discretionary DAEP, the Amarillo ISD's Student Code of Conduct picks and chooses among the statutory grounds to include the following mandatory DAEP grounds:
- committing a felony crime on or near school grounds;
- committing a criminal assault on or near school grounds;
- delivering controlled substances on or near school grounds;
- delivering marijuana or THC on or near school grounds;
- delivering alcohol on or near school grounds;
- delivering e-cigarettes on or near school grounds;
- abusing volatile chemicals on or near school grounds;
- criminal harassment of school personnel;
- lewdness or indecent exposure on or near school grounds;
- aggravated robbery on or off school grounds;
- criminal retaliation against school personnel, and
- continuous sexual abuse of a minor or disabled person.
Although Sections 37.006 and 37.007 and the Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct identify these forms of misconduct as requiring mandatory DAEP placement, we have the same opportunity to help you and your student defend and defeat these DAEP charges as with the discretionary DAEP charges discussed in the prior section.
Amarillo ISD DAEP Defenses
Throughout its discipline provisions, the Texas Education Code offers multiple protective procedures for notice, conferences, hearings, and appeals. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct likewise has abundant notice, hearing, appeal, and other protective procedures spread throughout its discipline provisions. Our attorneys know how to invoke those procedures to present your student's best DAEP defense. Your student's DAEP defense depends on the particular facts and circumstances of the matter. We may be able to take one or more of the following winning approaches to effectively defend your student's Amarillo ISD DAEP charges:
- complaining witnesses are speculating rather than reporting from reliable and admissible first-hand observation;
- school officials have no admissible and reliable evidence that your student committed the alleged misconduct;
- witnesses are falsely reporting misconduct to retaliate against, discriminate against, and bully your student;
- complaining witnesses have mistakenly misidentified your student as the wrongdoer;
- your student made a reasonable mistake as to the circumstances and is thus innocent of any wrongful intent;
- your student reasonably followed the instructions of school personnel in a safe harbor on a question of interpretation or judgment;
- your student acted under the direction, influence, or coercion of older and stronger students whom your student was reasonably unable to resist;
- your student was defending other students against bullying, intimidation, or harassment;
- the school unreasonably failed to accommodate your student's disability, resulting in the conduct;
- the school unlawfully failed to protect your student from bullying, resulting in the conduct;
- your student caused no injury, harm, loss, or disruption, repudiated the actions, and is unlikely to repeat the misconduct.
Amarillo ISD DAEP Mitigating Factors
Texas Education Code Section 37.001 requires that Amarillo ISD school officials consider mitigating factors when determining whether to impose discretionary or mandatory DAEP. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct adopts and repeats Section 37.001's mitigating factors. Mitigating factors assume that the misconduct occurred but that the factors may outweigh the school's interest in imposing the DAEP penalty. Section 37.001's statutory mitigating factors include:
- reasonable self-defense;
- no intent to commit the alleged wrong;
- clean and clear disciplinary record;
- disability preventing recognition of the wrong;
- conservatorship excusing the wrong or
- homelessness excusing the wrong.
Amarillo ISD Emergency Placement
Texas Education Code Section 37.019 authorizes removal on an emergency basis of an unruly student seriously interfering with teaching or school operations. Removal can be to home or DAEP placement. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct likewise authorizes emergency removal. Removal beyond ten days, though, requires Amarillo ISD officials to offer the hearing described in the next section.
Amarillo ISD DAEP Placement Hearing
Texas Education Code Sections 37.009 and 37.019 guarantee your student the right to a formal hearing to challenge school removal beyond ten days and oppose DAEP placement. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct likewise promises a removal and DAEP hearing. Our attorneys know how to strategically invoke these hearing rights to their best effect, present your student's defense, advocate the mitigating factors against DAEP placement, and keep your student in the regular classroom.
Amarillo ISD DAEP Appeal
We may be able to gain your student's reinstatement to the regular classroom, even if your student has already lost the formal hearing. Texas Education Code Section 37.009 guarantees your student an appeal of a DAEP placement. The Amarillo ISD Student Code of Conduct likewise offers your student a DAEP appeal. A Section 37.009 appeal first goes to the Amarillo ISD board. However, if the board confirms rather than reverses the DAEP placement, then Section 37.009 authorizes a second appeal to the Potter County district court. Let our attorneys, skilled and experienced in school administrative appeals, seek review and reversal of your student's DAEP placement to restore your student to the regular classroom.
Alternative Special Relief
Our attorneys may have yet another avenue to pursue if your student has already lost all hearings and appeals. Our attorneys have relationships of trust and respect with school district oversight officials and general counsel offices across Texas, including in the Amarillo area. We may be able to use those oversight channels to effectively advocate for your student's alternative special relief and reinstatement to the regular classroom. Don't give up. Let us exhaust all formal and informal channels until we obtain your student's best possible outcome.
Premier Amarillo ISD DAEP Defense
If your student faces DAEP charges in the Amarillo Independent School District, you can do no better than to retain the Lento Law Firm's highly qualified Student Defense Team out of our Dallas or El Paso offices. We are available to defend students throughout the Amarillo ISD, in any school and at any grade level, involving any alleged offense. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now. Learn more details here about Texas DAEP matters.
