What Teachers in Texas Can Legally Do to Discipline Students

In Texas, there has been an ongoing discussion of classroom discipline, but what can teachers in this day and age get away with when students are out of line? Well, Texas Law Help can give us the answers we seek.

Student Discipline Options in Texas

Disciplinary actions can vary among school districts and especially based upon the reason for the accusation. In Texas, these are the nine common actions taken against students accused of stepping out of line:

• Loss of privileges
  • Student no longer has certain classroom privileges
• Behavior contract
  • Student (possibly also parent) must sign a contract promising to adhere to certain behaviors at school
• Detention
  • Student must attend detention either after school, during lunch, or on weekends
• ISS (In-School Suspension)
  • Student is sent to a separate classroom to work
• Reassignment 
  • Student is sent to learn from a different teacher
• Community service
  • Student must offer service for community or school tasks like trash pickup
• OSS (Out-of-School Suspension)
  • Student is suspended from school for no more than three days
• Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, or DAEP
  • Student is sent to another school for a period of time
• Expulsion
  • Student is barred from returning to their current school

Student's Rights in Texas

Although students will most likely NOT have the right to challenge actions taken by schools, they still have the right to know the reason for the punishment and to provide their side of the story.

Texas Corporal Punishment

There is a fine line between corporal punishment and child abuse. Many parents often disagree on what's appropriate when punishing a child, but physical discipline is NOT illegal in Texas.

However, if the child is showing lasting bruises, burns, broken bones, or other physical injuries, then this most likely is a case of child abuse.

If you witness physical discipline from a parent to their child and it crosses over to borderline abusive, you can always file a report to Child Protective Services (CPS) and they will determine if an investigation should be opened or not.

Who Can Spank Your Child in Texas?

Texas law allows parents to give permission to schools to physically discipline their child, but outside of that, only the following people can lay a hand on a child:

• Parent or grandparent
• Stepparent with legal guardianship
• Legal guardian who has duty of control over child

The same rules apply to parents and legal guardians when it comes to physical discipline. Any signs of excessive punishment or abusive actions will result in Child Protective Services stepping in.