Overview of School Discipline in Texas

For Parents | August 2025

Your school district has a Student Code of Conduct (SCOC) that sets the rules for student behavior
and explains what happens when those rules are broken. State law also sets discipline rules.

How Students are Expected to Behave

Students need to arrive at school and at each class on time, ready to learn. To learn actively, students must participate and follow their teacher’s instructions. Teachers use different strategies to manage behavior and give consequences if students misbehave.

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Strategies to manage behavior could include:

» Praising good behavior
» Using assigned seating
» Using visual or nonverbal cues to redirect
» Communicating behavior expectations and consequences at the beginning of school year and as needed

For minor misconduct, consequences might include:

» Private talk or warning
» Contacting student’s parent
» Meeting with the parent
» Assigning detention

For more serious misbehavior, the student could be removed from the classroom, the school, or even the district, temporarily or permanently.

Removals from Class by the Teacher

Under Texas law, a teacher has broad authority to remove a student from their classroom, which can carry significant consequences to a student. A teacher can remove a student from class who:

◆ Repeatedly disrupts teaching and learning;
◆ Acts in a way that is unruly, disruptive, or abusive to others; or
◆ Engages in bullying behavior.

Teachers have the legal authority to remove a student from class if a student does any of the above even if it only occurs once.* You will be notified if a teacher removes your child from class for one of these reasons.

Campus Behavior Coordinator and Managing Discipline

Each school must designate an administrator* to help manage student misconduct as the campus behavior coordinator (CBC). CBCs attempt many different strategies to help improve the behavior of students who have misbehaved.

Management strategies might look like:

» A behavior contract
» Regular check-ins between the CBC and student
» Setting up a peer or mentor support system
» Explicitly teaching how to appropriately handle disagreements with peers

More serious consequences could include:

» In-school suspension (ISS)
» Out-of-school suspension (OSS)
» Transfer to Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) – sometimes referred to as “alternative school” or “alternative campus”
» Expulsion

Discipline Conferences, Appeals, and Parent Rights

When a student is removed from the classroom for disciplinary reasons, not later than the third class day after the
student was removed, a conference must be held.

At the conference, you will:
◆ Learn more about why your child was removed;
◆ Learn of your right to appeal your child’s removal*;
◆ Discuss a return-to-class plan with the CBC if the reason for the removal was for one of the reasons described above at Removals from Class by the Teacher.*

After the conference, the CBC will give a consequence and will note if the consequence is inconsistent with the SCOC. With an expulsion, a student will always be provided a hearing to which you and your child will be invited.
To return to the classroom after a removal, the teacher must give written consent. The teacher can be overruled by a campus placement review committee, except in cases of an assault against the teacher.
If your school board has a policy for behavioral agreements, you can request one when your child is placed in a DAEP or is expelled. If followed by you and your child, an administrator may shorten the length of the disciplinary placement.*

Discipline and Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities can typically be removed from class if they misbehave under the same rules as students without disabilities. However, when a student is removed from their typical classroom and doesn’t receive their required services for a certain number of days, the student’s Section 504 committee or admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee must review whether the misconduct was caused by the student’s disability or the school’s failure to follow the student’s plan or program.

Types of Disciplinary Removals

	ISS	OSS	DAEP	Expulsion
What is it?	Removal from regular classroom but stays at school under the supervision of school staff	Removal from campus and cannot come back to campus until after suspension period	Removal from regular classroom; can be on or off campus. Some DAEP removals are required by law (mandatory).	Removal from campus (and sometimes the district). Sometimes expulsion is required by law (mandatory). Expulsion can be at a juvenile justice program or can be a virtual expulsion program* in some cases.
How long is the removal?	Not limited but CBC must review at least every 10 school days*	3 school days per incident.	Set by the SCOC (with limited exception)	Set by the SCOC (with limited exception)
Are there age or grade level limits?	No	Student below grade 3 or who is experiencing homelessness cannot be assigned OSS except for very limited offenses	Students younger than 6 years of age cannot be placed in DAEP	Students younger than 10 years of age cannot be expelled (with limited exception)