Spring ISD board approves 2025–26 student code of conduct after debate on vaping, cellphones, DAEP days and AI

The Spring Independent School District Board of Trustees on Aug. 7 unanimously approved the district's 2025'26 student code of conduct, adopting several substantive updates including modified disciplinary-day maximums for DAEP placements, a new policy for unauthorized use of artificial intelligence in coursework and updated rules to comply with Texas House Bill 1481 on personal communication devices.

District officials framed the changes as part of Lone Star governance goals to reduce disciplinary infractions and narrow disproportionality.

Assistant Superintendent of Student Success Efrain Olivo briefed trustees on four years of discipline data and the Lone Star governance targets. "This is a Lone Star governance goal progress measure update regarding discipline and student code of conduct," Olivo said. He told the board that total disciplinary incidents had declined districtwide about 18% over the four-year window the district reviewed, and that suspension rates for African American male students declined about 34% year over year in the most recent comparison. Olivo also said the district's special education population (about 5,257 students, roughly 14% of enrollment) saw a 21% decline in overall incidents, with a 25% drop in in-school suspensions and a 15% drop in out-of-school suspensions.

Trustees pressed for more detail on campus-level trends and on how the district verifies that declines reflect actual reductions in behavior versus changes in coding or reporting. Trustee Adams asked whether the district could break the same…