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 measures down for each campus; Olivo and other staff said they would provide campus-level reports and described monthly meetings with campus behavior coordinators (CBCs) and additional training to improve timely, consistent incident reporting.

Key changes in the updated code of conduct

- DAEP (disciplinary alternative education program) placement lengths were reduced for repeat fighting offenses: first offense remains 15 days; second offense was shortened from 30 to 20 days; third offense from 45 to 30 days. Administration said the change was intended to return students to instruction sooner while still maintaining mandatory placement where required.

- Behavior threat assessment procedures will move to a state-provided web-based platform, Sentinel; district staff said all threat-assessment reporting will be entered into that system.

- Artificial intelligence: unauthorized use of AI to produce academic work will be treated as academic dishonesty; codes and consequences are added in the conduct document.

- Personal communication devices (PCDs): the code was revised to comply with Texas House Bill 1481 and Texas Education Code Sec. 38.0232. The district will require PCDs to be powered off and stored securely (the district's guidance recommends backpacks or school-identified secure storage) during instructional time; district-provided devices and devices required by IEP or 504 plans are excluded. Staff told trustees the district will offer a principal toolkit, parent communications and campus signage to support the rollout.

Discussion and safeguards

Trustees repeatedly asked how the district will ensure consistent implementation and monitoring. Trustee Hodges recommended clearer parent-facing language on DAEP placement timing, asking that the handbook include phrases such as "up to 15 days" to reflect the decision-point meetings that can extend or shorten placements based on mitigation. Trustees also asked for the DAEP placement and transition procedures to be explicitly referenced in the student code of conduct; staff said the handbook already includes transition meeting and reentry requirements (the placement/transition and grievance/appeal forms were identified during the discussion and will be provided to trustees).

On the PCD policy, staff said the district will include layered communications and trainings and will create a drop-down reporting field in the SIS (Aeries) to document PCD incidents. The district described a progressive set of consequences: a documented warning and parent notification for a first occurrence; a parent conference and counselor referral at a second; increasing sanctions and potential in-school suspension at repeated incidents; confiscation and parent retrieval processes for repeated noncompliance; and disposal of unclaimed devices after 90 days as permitted by law.

Implementation, oversight and next steps

Administrators told trustees they will provide monthly discipline reports and campus-level data; the superintendent's team committed to including the discipline metrics as a recurring board report and a weekly dashboard update. Trustees asked for a clearer review of how much of the decline in incidents was due to coding or platform changes (staff cited earlier adjustments tied to vaping legislation and discipline-module training in Aeries) and the district agreed to provide follow-up analysis separating coding changes from behavior changes.

Board action

Trustee Hodges moved that the board approve the 2025'26 student code of conduct "and include the recommended changes, edits, and or corrections discussed at tonight's board meeting." Trustee Adams seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The board then approved, on an emergency single-reading finding, revisions to policy FNCE local (student personal communication devices) consistent with the new statute, also by unanimous vote.

Why it matters

The code of conduct determines how campuses interpret state law and apply disciplinary consequences; the board's vote and the staff's pledges to produce campus-level reporting and to clarify parent-facing materials aim to increase transparency and consistency as the district implements both the new state requirements on devices and locally adjusted DAEP timelines.

What trustees asked staff to do next

Staff will provide campus-level breakdowns of discipline trends, copies of the DAEP placement and grievance forms identified in the meeting, and a board briefing on how coding and reporting changes affected the recent declines. The district will also distribute communications and a principal toolkit for the PCD rules before schools open and include discipline reporting as a recurring board update.