Four takeaways from our investigation into Texas’ disciplinary schools

“Every year, Texas sends more than 100,000 students to its system of disciplinary schools, known as disciplinary alternative education programs. When the state legislature established DAEPs in 1995, during rising national concern about school violence, they were designed as a step up from a suspension for students who’d committed serious offenses. But since then, the state legislature has gradually expanded the reasons why a student can — or must — be sent to a DAEP, according to a Hechinger Report investigation. Today, students are sent to the schools, for weeks or in some cases months at a time, for offenses including vaping, making threats, bringing a weapon to campus or getting in trouble with law enforcement off campus. Educators say alternative schools are an important tool for handling severe student misbehavior and keeping teachers and other students safe. But critics say there’s too little oversight of how the schools work and why students end up in them. They also question the quality of education students receive while in DAEPs. Our investigation into these schools revealed: Students can be sent to DAEPs for minor behavior. A review of records from dozens of school districts showed that students have been sent to DAEPs for infractions like insubordination, attendance issues, dress code violations and profanity. Those misbehaviors are not explicitly listed in state law as reasons to send a student to alternative programs. But districts can use their discretion for any behavior that violates their local code of conduct. In the 2024-25 school year, for example, nearly 36,000 DAEP placements were made because of code of conduct violations, compared to under 12,000 for assault. Critics say the legislature took a step toward codifying this approach into law last year when it passed a bill explicitly allowing districts to send kids to DAEPs for disruptions. Families are rarely successful in reversing DAEP placements. State law requires that before a student is sent to a DAEP, a hearing must be held to weigh the evidence and mitigating factors. The hearing is handled by the school district, though, rather than a neutral party, and a district employee makes the final determination. Families do not always have a right to appeal to district leaders or the school board. The law also does not provide a path to elevate a complaint to the Texas Education Agency; courts, meanwhile, have historically ruled they do not have jurisdiction in this area. DAEPs tend to be extremely strict environments, and many students struggle in them. Students in these programs are often forbidden from speaking in class unless granted permission, according to our analysis of handbooks from 75 districts. When moving from class to class, they are generally required to walk in a single-file line — sometimes even with their hands behind their back. Strict dress codes ban facial hair, jewelry and sandals. Extra days can be added to a placement if a student breaks any rules. Because students in different courses and grades cycle in and out of DAEPs throughout the year, the majority of schoolwork is done independently, often on computers. For students with long placements, this can mean going months without live instruction. Research suggests that students assigned to DAEPs are less likely to graduate from high school on time; only 44 percent of ninth graders placed in a DAEP graduated four years later, compared to 84 percent of students who received no discipline and 70 percent who had been assigned one in-school suspension. Some student groups are overrepresented in DAEPs. In the 2024-25 school year, Black students made up about 13 percent of the overall student body in Texas, but accounted for 22 percent of all students placed in DAEPs. Males also are assigned this punishment at a higher rate than females, accounting for about two-thirds of all placements. State law requires educators to take into account a student’s disability status before sending a student to an alternative school. Even so, students in special education made up nearly a quarter of such placements, despite only representing 17 percent of the total student population. Once in a DAEP, students can get days added to their placement if they don’t follow all the school rules. Experts say that students with disabilities often have a hard time with the rigid structure and end up staying longer. Read the full story . Share your experiences with school discipline with us at hechingertips@proton.me . Contact investigations editor Sarah Butrymowicz at butrymowicz@hechingerreport.org or on Signal: @sbutry.04. This story about DAEP schools was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter . The post Four takeaways from our investigation into Texas’ disciplinary schools appeared first on The Hechinger Report .

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