For any student, a DAEP placement can be stressful. For LGBTQ+ students, DAEP placements can be additionally stressful because they are more likely to face bullying and harassment compared to their peers, but have no special protections under the law.
Students who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to be bullied. One study found that 33 percent of LGBTQ+ college students report being bullied compared to 19 percent of their non-LGBTQ+ classmates. Numbers for K-12 students can be more difficult to access for a variety of reasons, but other studies have found a higher likelihood of bullying of LGBTQ+ students.
One additional challenge is that laws related to LGBTQ+ status and issues aren’t static. It’s very much an in-progress area of law, meaning it can be difficult to navigate because of how quickly things can change.
While LGBTQ+ students cannot rely on specialized laws or recognition of their sexual orientation or gender identity as a protected class, they can rely on general laws against harassment and bullying.
All students deserve to feel safe at school. If your student is facing harassment or bullying related to their LGBTQ+ status and DAEP placement, the Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm can assist. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out an online form.
What’s a DAEP?
In Texas, disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs) are one avenue for addressing student disciplinary issues. The state requires that all K-12 school districts have a DAEP, either specific to the district or in partnership with other districts.
All school districts must have either a DAEP or share a DAEP with other school districts. To meet Texas’s requirements, districts must ensure that DAEPs:
- These placements cannot take place in a student’s regular classroom.
- A DAEP’s location can be in the same building as a student’s regular classroom or in a different building.
- Schools must separate DAEP students from the general student body.
- Students in DAEPs will take courses on English, math, science, history, and self-discipline.
- All teachers assigned to DAEPs must meet Texas’s certification requirements.
- Students who have eligible disabilities will continue to receive special education services, but their accommodations and support may be different than what they traditionally receive.
- Students must have support for addressing their educational and behavioral needs.
- DAEPS must provide supervision and counseling.
Placement in a DAEP can be either discretionary or mandatory. For mandatory placements, a student has committed an action that requires, absent narrow exceptions, a DAEP placement.
Discretionary placements are optional. A student’s conduct may result in a DAEP placement but schools can select other options as well.
DAEPs and LGBTQ+ Students
For parents and guardians of LGBTQ+ students, one of the challenges is being limited in how they can address any bullying or harassment that occurs during a DAEP placement.
One of the challenges with tracking potential safety and harassment concerns for LGBTQ+ students in DAEPs is that the state doesn’t track the sexual orientation or gender identity of students placed in these programs. Texas does track gender, ethnicity, and special populations (such as students with disabilities), but not students identifying as LGBTQ+.
What this means is that it’s difficult to know how many LGBTQ+ students are placed in DAEPs and, by extension, how many of them suffer bullying, harassment, or are otherwise made to feel unsafe.
It can be difficult to even estimate how many Texans in general identify as LGBTQ+, let alone students. While it’s estimated that between five and seven percent of people identify as LGBTQ+ nationwide, some research indicates LGBTQ+ Texans may hesitate to publicly identify out of fears about their safety.
Other studies indicate that LGBTQ+ students are more likely to face bullying and harassment in school. LGBTQ+ students are more likely to have suicidal ideation. Overall, over half of middle school and high school students who identify as LGBTQ+ reported being bullied during the school year.
A report indicated that LGBTQ+ students are more likely to face disciplinary actions for issues such as dress code violations or advocating for themselves. For example, a student born male who identifies as female may be accused of violating a school’s dress code for wearing a skirt, even when a student who was born female would be allowed to wear that skirt.
The Law and LGBTQ+ Students
For LGBTQ+ students and their parents, one of the difficulties of handling harassment and safety issues is knowing what protections a student does or doesn’t have under the law at any given time. Compared to other areas of the law that are settled and rarely change in major ways, laws relating to LGBTQ+ individuals, including students, seem constantly fluid. They often change depending on who is in office. Depending on federal and state laws, school districts may also have the power to make district-specific policies to protect LGBTQ+ students.
Both federal and Texas laws show how laws related to LGBTQ+ individuals and students can quickly change. For example, in 2024, the Biden Administration expanded protections under Title IX to include LGBTQ+ students. In January 2025, a judge struck down the law.
Whether the federal government would have appealed that decision became irrelevant when the Trump Administration took office, and an Executive Order re-defined sex and threatened to punish any school or teacher who advocated for “gender ideology.” Several groups immediately filed lawsuits in response to that Executive Order.
Similarly, in 2025, Texas passed Senate Bill 12, which banned student clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Students who identify as LGBTQ+ raised concerns that the law would deprive them of support and make it easier to bully students. In 2026, a court blocked three school districts from complying with the law.
The new law, as written, was vague in places, leaving it to schools to determine what the law may or may not require. For LGBTQ+ students, this lack of clear guidelines can be good or bad depending on how a school interprets them. In some cases, it may allow a student to receive some protection from the school. In others, it may deprive a student of needed support. It can also make it difficult for a student to know what their rights are and what conduct may or may not result in disciplinary action or other issues.
Lawsuits can result in more specific definitions or interpretations of laws. Those rulings, however, may help or hurt students.
These laws are just a few examples of the thorny path that faces LGBTQ+ students, especially when they’re dealing with bullying, harassment, or other safety concerns during a DAEP placement.
In short, one of the challenges LGBTQ+ students face is how laws about LGBTQ+ remain in flux. Students may not be clear on what their rights are. Laws may reduce their rights or make it challenging for students and their families to pursue lawsuits based on harassment or bullying related to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm keeps track of any changes to the law and how those changes affect our clients. We work with our clients to help them understand their rights and how to protect themselves and their students from bullying, harassment, and other issues related to someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
In cases with LGBTQ+ students, when the law doesn’t explicitly protect their status, we find other ways to use laws to build a case and protect students.
DAEPs and Combatting Bullying and Harassment
That DAEPs don’t have specific policies protecting DAEP students doesn’t mean families simply have to accept bullying, harassment, and otherwise making a student feel unsafe in school. Students and their families can raise concerns about safety issues or harassment using standard rules governing student conduct.
Texas has minimum standards for bullying prevention. These are the basic requirements that school districts must meet regarding their bullying policies. One issue, however, is that school staff may choose not to recognize bullying or harassment related to a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
DAEPs will either have their own handbooks and codes of conduct for students or follow the district’s overall policies. This includes policies regulating harassment and bullying and establishing school safety.
Students do not have to accept bullying or harassment because they’re in a DAEP. They also shouldn’t feel unsafe because of a disciplinary placement.
Deer Park Independent School District has restrictions on bullying, cyberbullying, and harassment. While the school’s code of conduct is silent on protecting LGBTQ+ students, these students can use the school’s general policies to contest any harassment they experience.
Protect Your Student
LGBTQ+ students are generally more likely to be subjected to bullying and harassment in school. Unfortunately, the lack of statistics and protection of their status means many students end up feeling alone and unable to seek help.
DAEP placements can compound these issues. Without data related to LGBTQ+ students in DAEPs, it can be difficult to know the extent of the problem. This is made worse by a lack of protection for LGBTQ+ students.
You and your student do not have to simply accept harassment or bullying. All students have a right to feel safe at school, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
If your student identifies as LGBTQ+ and is facing harassment or safety concerns related to a DAEP placement, the Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out an online form.