Following misconduct or behavioral issues, Texas K-12 students may be placed in disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) placement. These alternative education programs remove students from their normal school environment for a set period of time or until students satisfy certain goals or expectations.
Some students do benefit from a DAEP placement. Other students don't. Students may be given overly severe DAEP placements. A school may fail to consider events in context or try to use a student as an example. School officials may try to ignore the role a student's disability played in their behavior.
Families don't have to automatically accept Corpus Christi ISD's disciplinary action. There are options for contesting these decisions. DAEP placements take students out of their normal classes and schedules, meaning these placements can have a huge impact on a student's education.
If your student is enrolled with the Corpus Christi County Independent School District and facing a DAEP placement, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help. We work with families in the Corpus Christi area and throughout Texas. Our focus is on protecting your student's right to an education and, by extension, their future.
If your student is facing a DAEP placement or is already in a placement, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out an online form.
What's a DAEP?
Texas schools have had disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) since the 1990s. DAEP placements can be mandatory or discretionary and occur when a student violates either state law or school policies.
All school districts must have either a DAEP or a DAEP consortium with other school districts. Texas requires that all DAEPs:
- Cannot take place in a student's regular classroom
- Maybe in a different location than a student's regular school
- Must separate students in DAEP placements from the rest of the student body
- Focus instruction on English, math, science, history, and self-discipline
- Support the educational and behavioral needs of placed students
- Offer supervision and counseling
- Have teachers who meet Texas's certification requirements
Corpus Christi Independent School District
Six school districts serve the city of Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) covers the majority of the city, meaning the majority of children and teens in Corpus Christi will attend CCISD.
Getting Help
The Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm has four offices in Texas. Our Austin and Houston offices are the closest offices for Corpus Christi ISD students and their families.
Our team works with students and families throughout Texas. While DAEP is a state law, certain situations may also involve federal law. We also appreciate that each school district is unique. We combine our knowledge of laws and different school districts, along with an understanding of what's distinctive about Corpus Christi ISD, to help our clients find student-centric solutions.
Types of Placements
DAEP placements are either mandatory or discretionary. When a student's alleged misconduct falls under the mandatory category, schools must place them in a DAEP. When a student's alleged misconduct falls under the discretionary category, schools may place them in a DAEP.
Corpus Christi ISD divides DAEP placements into two grade classifications. Kindergarten to Grade 5 fall under the elementary classification, and Grades 6 to 12 are the secondary classification. Students in the elementary classification cannot be placed with students from other classifications.
Mandatory DAEP Placements
If a school establishes that a student engages in certain activities and conduct, that student will face a mandatory DAEP placement. What behavior results in a mandatory placement offense may come from the Texas Education Code or a school's code of conduct.
The Corpus Christi ISD's code of conduct lists behavior that results in a mandatory DAEP placement. Conduct that falls under the mandatory DAEP placement requirement includes a student who:
- Harasses or retaliates against a school staff member or volunteer
- Within 300 feet of school property or while attending a school event, a student:
- Commits an assault that involves bodily injury
- Engages in conduct punishable as a felony
- Sells, gives, possesses, delivers, uses, or is under the influence of any controlled substance, marijuana, alcohol, or e-cigarettes
- Any student who has a valid prescription for low-THC cannabis is exempt from this policy
- Felony-level drug offenses may result in expulsion rather than DAEP placement
- Engages in public lewdness or indecent exposure
- Is between six and nine years old and commits an expellable offense
- Is under six years old and commits a federal firearms violation
- Commits certain felonies
- Is a registered sex offender and under court supervision
If a school finds that a student engaged in any of this conduct, they must place the student in a DAEP. What may be at issue is the length of a DAEP placement and other related issues. School districts should have a table or similar guidance to ensure that students aren't unduly singled out.
Discretionary DAEP Placements
Discretionary placements cover misconduct that may result in a DAEP placement but doesn't require a DAEP placement. These placements can be more difficult to navigate because of that flexibility.
Texas state law lists some behavior that falls under the discretionary category. Violations of a school's code of conduct can also fall under this category. Corpus Christi ISD can choose to add additional categories but cannot reduce the requirements of Texas state law.
The challenge with discretionary placements is to protect your student from being unfairly singled out or disproportionately punished with a DAEP placement. Parents and guardians should ask if Corpus Christi ISD has policies or other methods to ensure students are treated fairly.
Texas law considers the following conduct to fall under the discretionary placement category:
- A student, as part of group bullying, helps to incite violence against another student
- A student bullies another student in a way that encourages that student to commit or attempt to commit suicide
- A student assaults an individual and does not cause bodily injury but does threaten bodily injury
With discretionary placements, the important thing for parents and guardians to remember is that a school district should have clear policies on what does and does not result in a DAEP placement. If you believe your student's school is unjustly singling out or otherwise punishing your student, contact the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm.
Emergency Placements
School districts, including Corpus Christi ISD, have considerable leeway when it comes to protecting, or claiming to protect, school safety. Students and staff should be and feel safe at school, which is one of the underlying reasons for emergency DAEP placements.
School staff may use an emergency placement when they believe such an action is necessary to protect the school community's safety and welfare. They can immediately remove a student from their regular classroom and only have to provide a verbal explanation for their actions.
Within 10 days of an emergency placement, Corpus Christi ISD must follow its stated DAEP process. Emergency placements don't end a student's rights; they just momentarily pause them. In addition, all emergency placements must follow all federal and state disability laws.
Length of Placement
A designee of the Corpus Christi ISD school board determines the length of a student's DAEP placement. These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
Designees should consider the following factors when making this decision:
- How serious was the student's offense?
- What is the student's age and grade level?
- Does the student have a history of misconduct?
- What is the student's attitude?
- Are there any laws or policies that are relevant to the length of a DAEP placement?
Corpus Christi ISD doesn't consider days a student misses as counting toward their DAEP placement. If a student's DAEP placement is longer than 90 days, the district must conduct the pre- and post-assessments.
Long-Term Placements
Students may be placed in a DAEP for multiple school years or for more than one year. A student may face a long-term DAEP placement when school officials find that they're a threat to the safety of students or school staff. DAEP placements may cover more than one school year when a student engages in serious or repeated Code of Conduct violations.
Placements may continue beyond the end of the school year. A student may begin the next school year in a DAEP placement to complete their placement. For example, a school gives a student a 60-day DAEP placement with 40 days left in the school year. The student would complete the DAEP placement in the first 20 days of the next school year.
DAEP Process
For non-emergency DAEP placements, the process begins when a school removes a student from their normal class or schedule. Either school administrators or a student's teacher may initiate the removal.
Within three days of a student's removal from their normal classroom or schedule, either the campus behavior coordinator (CBC) or a school must conduct a conference. Note that this requires a school to actually conduct a conference, not just schedule one.
These conferences should include the CBC or administrator as well as the student and their parents or guardians. If a teacher instigated a DAEP removal, the teacher should also be present.
During the conference, the CBC or administrator should:
- Inform, either verbally or in writing, the reasons for the student's remove
- Explain the basis for the student's removal
- Give students and parents an opportunity to respond
In situations when a student or parents don't attend a conference and a school district has made valid attempts for them to attend, a school may make a DAEP placement decision even without the student or parents being in attendance. If students or parents didn't attend the DAEP conference and believe the school didn't make valid attempts to ensure their attendance, contact the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm.
Mitigating Factors
A student's conduct should be considered in the context of when it occurred. Think of the difference between someone pushing another person for no reason versus pushing them so a speeding car doesn't hit the other person.
The Corpus Christi ISD Code of Conduct includes a list of mitigation factors for DAEP placements. These questions should be taken into consideration throughout the DAEP process.
Potential mitigating factors for DAEP placements:
- Was the student acting in self-defense?
- What was the student's intent (or lack of intent) when they engaged in the alleged conduct?
- Does the student have any disciplinary history?
- Does the student have:
- An eligible disability under federal or state law?
- If yes, does that disability substantially affect the student's ability to understand their conduct and why it was wrong?
- Is the student currently homeless?
- Is the student under a conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services (AKA foster care)?
These factors should be considered for both mandatory and discretionary DAEP placements or even when they're facing multiple or repeated allegations of misconduct.
Even with emergency placements, schools still have to consider these factors. The difference is a school may remove a student before considering these factors.
Appeals
Students may have the right to appeal DAEP placement decisions. When they do have the right to appeal, the Office of Admissions, Attendance, and Student Support Services must provide students and their parents or guardians with the following information:
- Parents or guardians' right to appeal the DAEP placement decision to the board's designee
- Parents or guardians must appeal within five school days
- In the appeal, parents or guardians must request a conference between the board's designee, the student, the student's parents, and CBC
If parents or guardians don't appeal on time, the CBC's placement decision and any other penalties go into effect. Following a timely filed appeal, a student, unless under an approved emergency DAEP removal, will continue to receive services at their normal campus.
Decisions made on appeal are not reviewable or appealable. They are final.
Students with Disabilities and DAEPs
One of the mitigating factors for DAEPs is if a student has a disability. If a student's disability substantially affects their ability to understand their misconduct, a school may need to conduct a manifestation determination.
Even if a student with an IEP or 504 Plan is placed in a DAEP, that doesn't end their right to special education services and accommodations. Corpus Christi ISD must continue to provide special education services while a student is in a DAEP placement. They can, however, provide different services than what a student usually receives.
Protect Your Student's Education
If your student is facing or in a DAEP placement, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help. Families don't have to simply accept a school's decision on placement.
DAEP placements can have a long-term impact on your student and their future. Schools may fail to consider a situation in context or may saddle your student with an unduly long DAEP placement.
The Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help assist students and families in Corpus Christi and throughout Texas. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out an online form.
