A. BEHAVIOR SUBJECT TO REMOVAL TO A DAEP

Mandatory Removals
A student must be placed in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program if the student commits any of the following offenses on school property, including a parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area owned by the school district, or on a school bus, or within 300 feet of the school's real property boundary line, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off of school property [TEC 37.006]:

• Engaging in conduct punishable as a felony.
• Committing an assault with injury.
• Selling, giving, delivering, possessing, using or being under the influence of marijuana, a controlled substance, or a dangerous drug.
• Selling, giving, or delivering an alcoholic beverage; committing a serious act or offense while under the influence of alcohol.
• Possessing, using, or being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage.
• Behaving in a manner that contains the elements of an offense relating to abusable glue or aerosol paint or relating to volatile chemicals.
• Behaving in a manner that contains the elements of the offense of public lewdness, and/or,
• Behaving in a manner that contains the elements of the offense of indecent exposure.
• Possessing a BB gun or air gun, as defined as a gun that propels a projectile by any means, including spring, compressed air, spring-piston, pneumatic, or CO2. (This does not include items not capable of firing projectiles).
• Possessing a home-made weapon, defined as a device or item that as manufactured, modified, or adapted by an individual for the purpose of inflicting harm to another by its use or intended use.

In addition, a student must be placed in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program if the student:

• Engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of retaliation against any school employee, regardless of where or when the conduct occurs. (Committing retaliation in combination with another expellable offense is addressed in the expulsion section of this Student Code of Conduct).
• Making a terroristic threat; false alarm or report (e.g., bomb threats).
• Is ordered by a juvenile court to attend a district DAEP as a condition of probation (pertains to unexpelled students).
• Engages in conduct off-campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity and:
  1. Is placed on deferred prosecution by Juvenile Court for conduct defined as a felony in Title 5 of the Penal Code (Title 5 includes both misdemeanor and felony offenses "against the person").
  2. Is found to have engaged in delinquent conduct as specified by Title 5 of the Penal code, and/or
  3. Is believed by the Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee to have engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense in Title 5 of the Penal Code.

A student under 10 years of age who engages in expellable conduct described in Section 37.007 shall receive educational services in the district's disciplinary Alternative Education Program. A student under the age of six may not be removed to a disciplinary alternative education program (as described in 37.008) unless they commit a federal firearms offense.

Discretionary Removals
A student may also be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored or school-related activity if:

• The superintendent or the superintendent's designee has a reasonable belief that the student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense other than those defined in Title 5, Penal Code, and
• The continued presence of the student in the regular classroom threatens the safety of other students or teachers or will be detrimental to the educational process.

In addition, students may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program who are found to be:

• Involved in a public school fraternity, sorority, secret society or a gang, including participating as a member or pledge, or soliciting another person to become a pledge or member of such a group.
• Involved in criminal street gang activity. A criminal street gang is defined as three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities.

A student may also be removed to a disciplinary Alternative Education Program for serious or persistent misbehavior. The District defines "persistent" to be two or more violations of the Student Code of Conduct in general or repeated occurrences of the same violation. A student may be removed for persistent misbehavior if behavior interventions have not been successful and it is determined that removal to a DAEP is necessary to improve the student's behavior. The District defines "serious" offenses as offenses that pose physical danger to the student, others or to property.

B. REMOVAL TO A DISCIPLINARY ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Board delegates to the principal the authority to remove a student to a disciplinary Alternative Education Program in which the student will be separated from the other students for the entire school program day and will be provided instruction in the core subjects with the goal of reaching/maintaining grade level. Counseling will also be provided to the student. The duration of a student's placement in a DAEP will be determined on a case-by-case basis. The maximum period of a DAEP placement is a calendar year unless it is determined that the student is a threat to the safety of other students or to the District employees; or an extended placement is in the best interest of the student. The Board delegates to the Superintendent or designee the authority to consider appeals of such removals. The District will provide transportation for students assigned to a disciplinary Alternative Education Program, so long as the students behave appropriately. Secondary students will be removed to the Alternative Learning Center and elementary students will be removed to the Alternative Center for Elementary Students.

Teacher/Administrator Removal [37.006]
A teacher shall remove a student from class and send him/her to the principal or other appropriate administrator if the student engages in an offense specified under 37.006. When a violation of 37.006 is alleged, the principal or other appropriate administrator will schedule a conference with the student's parent, teacher, and the student within three school days of receiving the violation report. The duration of a student's placement in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program is the decision of the principal.

Until a conference can be held as a result of a teacher removal or administrator removal, the principal or other appropriate administrator may place a student:

• In another appropriate classroom.
• In in-school suspension.
• In a disciplinary Alternative Education Program.
• On suspension.

At the conference, due process will be afforded. The principal or other appropriate administrator will explain the allegations against the student and give the student an opportunity to explain his or her version of the incident.

Appeal
The principal's decision to place a student in the disciplinary Alternative Education Program may be appealed to the Associate Superintendent (Level I), the Chief Academic Officer or designee (Level II), the Superintendent or designee (Level III), and the Board (Level IV). The student and/or the student's parent or guardian will be given notice of their right to appeal a removal. The appeal must be received by the district within seven District business days of the date of the removal notice. Any decision made on a student's appeal by the Board cannot be appealed. Consequences will not be deferred pending the outcome of an appeal.

A student and/or the student's parent or guardian may appeal to the Board the Superintendent's decision to continue placement after the district has received notification of the prosecutor's decision not to prosecute or a court finding that the student is not guilty or did not engage in delinquent conduct. (See page 15 for students with disabilities.)

Participation in Activities
State law does not permit students who are in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program as a result of committing a violation, according to state law, requiring placement in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program, to participate in any school-sponsored or school-related extracurricular and noncurricular activities.

Review Every 120 days
A student placed in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program will be provided a review of the student's status by the principal or other appropriate administrator of the student's home school at intervals not to exceed 120 days. At the review, the student or the student's parent or guardian must be given the opportunity to present arguments for the student's return to the regular classroom or campus. In the case of a high school student, the Board's designee, with the student's parent or guardian, shall review the student's progress towards meeting high school graduation requirements and shall establish a specific graduation plan for the student. The district is not required under this subsection to provide in the District's disciplinary Alternative Education Program a course not specified under Section 37.008(a). The student may not be returned to the classroom of the teacher who removed the student without the teacher's consent, unless it is determined by the Placement Review Committee that this is the best or only alternative available.

Removal Beyond the End of the School Year
For placement in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program to extend beyond the end of the school year, the principal or other appropriate administrator must determine that the student's presence in the regular classroom or campus presents a danger of physical harm to students or others.

Students who commit offenses requiring placement in a DAEP at the end of one school year may be required to continue that placement at the start of the next school year to complete the assigned term of placement.

Emergency Placement in DAEP [Section 37.019]
In situations which the principal or other appropriate administrator consider to be an emergency, the principal may order the immediate placement of a student when a student is so unruly, disruptive, or abusive that the student's presence seriously interferes with a teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in a class, with the ability of the student's classmates to learn, or with the operation of school or a school-sponsored activity. As required by law, the student will be given the appropriate conference required for placement in a DAEP within ten days.

Continuation of Placement in DAEP
A student's placement in a disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) may be continued (by another conference) if he or she fails to complete the requirements of a DAEP program during the term of his or her removal to such a program or engages in another offense for which placement in a DAEP is required or permitted.

Admission of Removed Students
The District will decide on a case-by-case basis the placement of a student who enrolls in the District and was assigned to a DAEP in another district, including a district in another state or an open-enrollment charter school. The District may place the student in the District's DAEP or a regular classroom setting.