The MISD School Board on Oct. 5 approved updates to the 2025–26 student code of conduct to implement recent state laws on personal communication devices and vaping and to add a local rule limiting extracurricular participation for students placed in in-school or out-of-school suspension.

Mike Chacon, who presented the code updates on behalf of administration, said the most visible change responds to state House Bill 1481 and will restrict students’ personal communication devices while on campus. “Once they arrive to the campus, those phones have to be put away,” Chacon said, describing the district’s planned enforcement steps.

Why it matters: the changes align the district’s discipline and code-of-conduct language with state law and clarify local practice for coaches, band directors and parents about when suspended students may participate in school activities.

Key changes presented and approved:
- Personal communication devices (House Bill 1481): The code now prohibits students from possessing or using personal communication devices on campus during the school day; the district outlined progressive disciplinary steps for violations, including collection of the device on the first offense with parent pickup, secured tamper‑resistant storage or pouches on repeat offenses, and escalating in‑school consequences for continued noncompliance. Chacon described a parent–student contract and the district’s plan to provide information at registration and “meet the teacher” events.
- Vaping and e-cigarettes (House Bill 114): The district said that placement in a disciplinary alternative program for tobacco- or e-cigarette-related incidents is now discretionary at the campus level under the new law; incidents involving THC remain subject to mandatory alternative-placement procedures under state rules, the administration said.
- Extracurricular participation: The code now clarifies that a student placed in in-school suspension (ISS) or out-of-school suspension (OSS) will not participate in the student’s next scheduled school-related extracurricular event. The district will allow students in ISS to attend practices; students in OSS may not attend practices.

Administration said it had consulted principals and the policy committee when drafting the code language. Chacon told the board that the policy details will appear in the student code of conduct and that the board’s adoption authorizes staff to implement the procedures at the campus level. “We brought all of them together and had a discussion about this. They live it. They have to implement it,” Dr. Noyola said.

Board action and distinction between discussion and decision: Administration recommended approval; the board moved and seconded the motion and voted to adopt the code updates. The board approved the changes as presented; the district will now finalize parent‑student contracts, provide multilingual communications at registration, and direct principals to implement the new procedures.

What was not decided: The board did not change local practice beyond the clarifications described and did not adopt any new funding or staffing commitments at this meeting.