Lubbock ISD discipline update: DOI intervention keeps many students out of DAEP while third nine‑week placements rose

District staff presented behavior and disciplinary data showing an overall decline in incidents compared with two years ago but a slight increase compared with last year; the rise is concentrated at certain campuses and grade levels, the presenters said.

A district staff member reported discipline incidents by week and across school levels, noting the district remains down relative to two years ago but had a small uptick compared with last year. "We continue to be down in discipline incidents compared to two years ago, but you do see there we've gone up slightly compared to last year," the presenter said. The presenter highlighted that about 19% of students district‑wide had at least one office referral this year and emphasized that particular campuses account for a disproportionate share of referrals.

Key behavior trends included increases in classroom disruption, marijuana/vape incidents and a small rise in assaults on staff. When broken out by level, the highest volumes of office referrals are in upper middle school grades and ninth grade. The district’s in‑school and out‑of‑school suspension metrics showed modest declines compared with two years ago; expulsions and DAEP placements remain comparatively low overall but with variability by campus.

On alternative placement, staff described Priority Intervention Academy (PIA, the district’s DAEP facility) operations and said efforts to reduce recidivism and improve transitions have increased. The district reported that, in one semester, 168 students were placed in the DOI (drug‑offense intervention) program instead of being sent directly to DAEP; of those, 133 completed the intervention and 5 later required DAEP placement. Staff characterized a 79% completion rate and calculated that 128 students avoided a PIA placement in the first semester because of DOI. In the third nine‑week period specifically, the district reported 265 DAEP placements (up 58 from the same period last year) and increases in drug offenses (67, up 11), student assaults (55, up 1) and staff assaults (12, up 8). Presenters described the third nine‑week window as a particularly difficult period that drove those increases.

District staff outlined ongoing and planned responses: increased campus‑level data review, daily instructional and behavior walk‑throughs at intervention sites, a weekly placement review committee, strengthened transition and mentoring supports, and summer training for assistant principals and campus behavior coordinators. Staff also pointed to the DOI program as an effective tool to reduce the number of students removed from their home campuses, while noting DOI participants face disciplinary consequences such as ineligibility for extracurricular activities during program participation.

Trustees requested additional cross‑analysis, including correlating discipline referrals with assessment (STAR) results; staff agreed to add that layer in future reporting.