Feb 1, 2010 | acormier 0
H.B. 171: A Moratorium on the Zero-Tolerance Policy in Texas Schools
Since the implementation of the Zero-tolerance policy in Texas schools in the wake of the 1995 Safe Schools Act, Texas students with no history of behavioral issues who commit any minor infraction of the rules, have been subjected to harsh punishments previously reserved only for those who were seen as “problem students”. For example, in Katy I.S.D, a twelve year old male student with no previous disciplinary problems was issued a ticket by the KISD police for assault with bodily injury and sent to a DAEP (disciplinary alternative education program) for six months for soft-tossing a tennis ball to a friend that accidentally brushed a female student’s nose. Granted, a reprimand of some sort was certainly in order for his actions. After all, tossing any object in a school hallway is, with good reason, against the rules. However, a ticket and a six month-stint in a DAEP were excessive to say the least. The outlandish manner in which this situation was handled speaks to the unnecessary rigidity with which children are handled in the Texas education system. Students are being held to a higher standard of behavior than adults!
According to Texas State Representative Dora Olivo, “These ‘zero tolerance’ policies, though presumably guided by a sincere desire to maintain school safety and classroom order, can result in a blind and mechanical administration of codes of conduct with dramatic consequences for the students involved.” In the 2009 Texas Legislative Session, Representative Olivo authored House Bill 171, relating to the consideration of mitigating factors in determining appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against a public school student. This policy amends section 37.001(a) of the Texas Education Code to require a school district’s student code of conduct to specify that consideration will be given to certain mitigating factors, in each decision concerning a student’s suspension, removal to a disciplinary alternative education program, or expulsion. The bill extends the requirement to have the student code of conduct specify that consideration will be given to those factors also in a decision concerning a student’s placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program, and to specify that such consideration will be given in each decision concerning such disciplinary actions regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or discretionary action.
The H.B. 171 bill analysis indicates that, prior to its introduction, school districts were authorized, but not required to consider mitigating factors such as self-defense, intent or lack of intent at the time the student engaged in certain conducts, a student’s disciplinary history, or a disability that substantially impairs the student’s capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the conduct. Such factors are clearly relevant and consideration of such factors is clearly necessary in making a fair and impartial decision as to the manner in which a student is disciplined.
H.B.171 was passed and has been rewritten into the student code of conducts by the boards of trustees for each independent school district in the state of Texas with an effective date of September 1, 2009. It applied beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.
Currently, the state does not have a plan in place to evaluate the success or failure of these changes to the education code. However, it is likely that an analysis of the number of suspensions, expulsions, and students being sent to DAEPs in contrast to the level of violence and disruption on Texas school campuses will provide an accurate picture of the effects of this new legislation. Taking such a measure would also have the potential to encourage a re-humanization of the discipline system in Texas schools—a necessary characteristic that has been missing for well over a decade.
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