Texas Zero Tolerance
Texas Zero Tolerance
© 2009 Texas Zero Tolerance
All Rights Reserved
The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice - Benjamin Franklin

When our children in Texas public schools can be accused, found guilty, ticketed, often times arrested and removed from school before parents are notified, then there is something intrinsically wrong with a system that claims to work in partnership with parents for the education and wellbeing of our children.
What a child should and should not do - Do not let your child speak to police before you are contacted and other suggestions to make to your children before you send them to school
Passing the paddle to law enforcement - In many schools the discipline management system established to teach students discipline under school authority has nearly become extinct, replaced by Municipal and Justice of the Peace courts
Who’s With Us


Would your group like to be added to the list?


Who’s Against Us


Open Letter to those groups against disciplinary reform


Our Solutions
(Full Text)








Examples of cases we have received…







There are many more – many that are complex cases – but in all, we believe that absolute power in the hands of school district administrators have absolutely corrupted common sense.
HB 171, SB 2270 Pass!!!

UPDATE: In the legislative process, both bills went back to the respective houses for reconsideration. HB 171 passed both Houses with amendments on May, 28 2009. We are awaiting the governor's signature.

Read the printing of the final bill and its amendments here.

A salute of gratitude goes out from Texas Zero Tolerance and its thousands of supporters. House Bill 171 and Senate Bill 2270 have passed their respective houses and will now become law with Governor Rick Perry’s signature.

We wish to thank State Representative Dora Olivo and her wonderful staff – especially Stefani Williams – for their hard work and persistence in getting this bill introduced. They fought hard for it at every step of the way and the parents and children of Texas owe them a great deal of thanks.

We also wish to thank State Senator Mario Gallegos and his dedicated staff for introducing SB 2270 and seeing it through the Senate.

Both the House Committee on Public Education and the Senate Committee on Education deserve a round of applause from the citizens of Texas for their work on these two important pieces of legislation.

HB 172 has passed through the House Committee on Public Education and our hopes are for it to pass on the House floor and be introduced in the Senate for consideration. With HB 171 and HB 172, we have a solid fix for the overbearing disciplinary system in Texas and the abuses made by the hundreds of school administrators should become a thing of the past.


Why Texas Zero Tolerance is Needed

As parents of children in the Texas public school system, we are constantly reminded that we are partners in the education of our children.

Many parents in Texas do not realize that if their child is accused of a disciplinary infraction at their school, they can be brought into the school principal’s office, interrogated by school officials, interrogated by police, arrested and taken to jail before parents are notified. After all the dust has settled, you as a parent have few rights for an appeal. Once a citation is written, it cannot be taken back and your child will have to appear in court.

We ask that you take some time to explore our website - examine some of the examples of this abuse in our Reported Cases section and help us reform Chapter 37 (particularly § 37.001 - Student Code of Conduct)  of the Texas Education Code to allow due process and common sense back into our schools. The text of House Bill 603 can be found here.
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Tarkington ISD v. Ellis

The Ninth District Court of Texas ruled that the Texas Education Code permits Texas school districts to decline to expel students for mandatory disciplinary infractions except for firearms if intent is adopted as a factor in expulsion decisions in the school district’s student code of conduct. From the opinion:

“The central issue in this case is whether Texas law mandates the expulsion of a student for unknowingly possessing a weapon on a school district’s property. We hold that the Texas Education Code permits school districts to decline to expel students for unknowingly possessing prohibited weapons if the districts have adopted intent as a factor in expulsion decisions.”


The Texas Education Agency's Safe Schools Program recommends an alternative to zero tolerance - a MUST READ.
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Zeroing Out Zero Tolerance: Eliminating Zero Tolerance Policies in Texas Schools (Texas Tech Law Review) - thorough, careful and thoughtful research, the author makes the tremendous case against continuing zero tolerance disciplinary policies.

When My Child is Disciplined at School - a parental guide provided by Texas Appleseed
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Take Action! ~ Tell the Legislature we've had enough (we do not solicit contributions)

Zero Tolerance - Zero Sense: Our Case for Reform
by Eddie Evans, Co-Director - Texas Zero Tolerance
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"We hold children to higher standards than we hold adults. We don't leave any room for children to make mistakes." ~ Billy Jacobs, former Senior Director of the Safe Schools Division of the Texas Education Agency

“There is no law authorizing an officer to interview a child on campus (except for investigations of child abuse or neglect). The school district can choose. It can permit interrogations, it can refuse to allow interrogations, or it can choose to allow interrogations only if the parent has first been contacted. However, if an officer is there to arrest a student or take the student into custody, the district definitely should not interfere.” ~ TEA Staff Lawyer
Confused by some of the terms used on this website? We have a new glossary that will help.