Conroe ISD adopts revised student code of conduct reflecting House Bill 6 changes

The Conroe Independent School District board voted Tuesday to adopt the 2025—6 student code of conduct, incorporating multiple changes required or clarified by recent state legislation including House Bill 6.

The code revisions change how teachers, administrators and parents must handle classroom removals and reentry plans, set clearer timelines for required parental conferences and adjust disciplinary placements for nicotine vaping. The board adopted the code by a roll-call vote.

Why it matters: House Bill 6 and related measures revise the process for removing a student from a classroom, require written teacher consent for a student to return, mandate timely parent conferences and update when in-school suspension (ISS) and disciplinary alternative-education program (DAEP) placements may be used. Those changes can alter classroom practices and place new procedural duties on teachers and administrators.

District legal staff framed the changes and their implications. "Major themes were definitely parent rights, teacher rights, social transitioning, and behavior expectations in the classroom," said Doctor Murrell, who presented the legal overview of the new laws. Murrell told trustees the district had about seven weeks to interpret many bills and that TEA had provided subsequent guidance.

Key changes described by district staff: - Formal removal and reentry: A teacher may remove a student from class for persistent disruptive behavior; a parent/teacher/student/administrator conference should be scheduled promptly to create a return-to-class plan. If parties cannot agree, a campus placement committee (two elected teachers and one professional employee) will review placement. - Written permission to return: The code requires written teacher consent for a student to return to class after removal, unless the placement committee orders otherwise. - Nicotine vapes: The policy shifts nicotine-vape responses from a mandatory off-campus DAEP in all cases to a discretionary DAEP option, allowing on-campus DAEP (in-school assignment) typically for a 3-to-5-day period; districts retain the option of a 10-day ISS if DAEP is not used. - Campus behavior coordinator (CBC): Each campus must designate a CBC to help monitor behavior reporting and consistency; the CBC must be an administrator and will work with the rest of the administrative team.

Trustees discussed potential implementation challenges, particularly at elementary campuses with fewer administrators. Trustee Odenweller and others asked administrators to monitor workloads and evaluate effects on teacher support and school operations. "I think you will see that time line pushed up and maybe intervene earlier when it's smaller behaviors and you're able to fix those," Murrell said, describing the intended effect of earlier parent/teacher intervention.

The board voted 7-0 to adopt the code of conduct as revised. Trustees also asked administration to prepare explanatory materials for parents and to review implementation in coming months to ensure teachers receive timely support.

Actions - motion: "Accept the 2025—6 student code of conduct as presented." mover: "Trustee Dawson" second: "Trustee May" vote_record: [{"member":"Trustee Dawson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee May","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Nelson","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Semler","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Horton","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Duncan","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Trustee Odenweller","vote":"yes"}] tally: {"yes":7,"no":0,"abstain":0} outcome: "approved" notes: "Board adopted code after first reading and discussion of House Bill 6 implementation; administration to produce parent-facing summary and monitor implementation."

Discussion_vs_decision - Discussion only: multiple trustees expressed concern about teacher workload, deployment of CBCs, and the need for clear parent-facing materials; no changes to the adopted text were made at the meeting. - Direction: Administration was asked to provide a parent-facing summary of discipline rights and procedures and to monitor effects at elementary campuses. - Decision: Adopted the 2025—6 student code of conduct incorporating HB6-related changes.

Sources and attribution - Presentation and legal overview: Doctor Murrell, district staff/legal presenter - Board votes and procedural motion: Conroe ISD Board of Trustees roll call

Ending Trustees said they will revisit implementation and will request status checks in the months following the law's start date; principals will get materials planned for parent distribution ahead of the school year start.