Arlington ISD reports declines in disciplinary referrals, highlights behavior supports

Arlington — District leaders on Thursday reported reductions in several categories of student discipline referrals and outlined programs intended to sustain that trend.

Doctor Jarko and Doctor Hill presented data comparing the current year to the prior year and highlighted district efforts such as individualized coaching for tested grade teachers through the Bailey Education Group, 36 hours of targeted professional learning for first‑year teachers and the launch of campus behavior support teams. “We feel like we've done a pretty good job up to this point of working to build that capacity,” Doctor Jarko said, citing a 14% reduction in office referrals at one exemplar campus.

Officials also described a pilot effort to expand tier‑2 supports at 11 schools and noted district‑wide behavior focus groups to strengthen system alignment. On safety compliance, Doctor Hill said the TEA intruder‑detection audit findings improved substantially: the district went from 10 findings in 2024–25 to 2 at semester review, a sign of “drastic improvement,” he said.

Trustees asked technical questions about the discipline metrics and drill frequency. Staff clarified that the “fighting” metric counts the number of students involved (one student may be counted multiple times if involved in separate incidents) and explained state requirements for drill timing (for example, fire drills tied to attendance thresholds and evacuation drills once or twice per semester). Trustees also requested clearer KPIs that align with the strategic plan.

District leaders said they will continue rolling out training, refine tier‑2 intervention models and coordinate with campus leaders to sustain the improvements.