Kids are supposed to go to DAEP for vaping, and for offenses involving marijuana, alcohol, or abusable chemicals. But these are now classified as minor offenses "venial sins.” The more serious offenses “mortal sins” involve "violent conduct.” Texas Education Code section 37.009(a-2) requires the commissioner to define “violent conduct” and he has now done that:
Violent conduct means an act by a student against another person that is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, or assault or a threat that reasonably places the other person in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault. 19 T.A.C. 103.1205(b).
Notice: 1) the action has to be aimed at another person—not property destruction; and 2) it has to be intentional, not reckless or negligent.
This distinction only comes into play if your DAEP is full. If you do not have room for a student who has engaged in “violent conduct” you can make room by putting one of those venial sinners into ISS.
Mr. Yates sued Spring ISD, alleging that his reassignment was retaliatory and discriminatory. The federal district court granted summary judgment to the district, dismissing all of Mr. Yates’s claims. Now the 5th Circuit has affirmed that decision.
The court’s opinion breaks no new ground but serves as a reminder of the importance of accurate, timely, performance-based documentation. The court noted that the district offered “a facially nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse actions it took.” The court added:
Spring ISD substantiated that reason with record evidence, through Principal Banks’s testimony concerning his walkthrough evaluations—in which he expressed “ongoing concerns about Mr. Yates’s performance, as he continued to struggle with the level of the rigor of his instruction, his pacing and time management, his checks for understanding, and his classroom management”—as well as numerous instances of constructive feedback from supervisors on Yates’s performance.
It's Yates v. Spring ISD, decided by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on August 26, 2024. It’s currently located at 2024 WL 3928095.