Dallas ISD is considering making opening locked or secured doors a more serious offense in its student code of conduct.
The discussion comes after last month’s shooting at Wilmer-Hutchins High School that left four students and a teacher with non-life-threatening injuries.
Dallas ISD police said a student let the suspect in through a locked side door, helping him avoid metal detectors.
Under the update, propping open a locked, secure door would jump from a Level II B to a Level III offense, and punishment would include mandatory placement in a disciplinary alternative school. Punishment is currently listed as at the discretion of the school.
The student who opened the door has not been identified publicly.
A proposed update to the student code of conduct for the 2025-2026 school year sparked discussion on Thursday’s board meeting about disciplinary measures.
The Dallas ISD board of trustees on Thursday discussed updates to its student code of conduct ahead of the new school years. A number of trustees said even after students are placed in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, behaviors don’t seem to change.
"I feel like because it's not being enforced, whether it's with dress code or behavior ... sometimes when you let people get away with an inch, they'll take a mile,” said Trustee Camile White.
Dallas ISD ended both in- and out-of-school suspensions in 2021and instead started a reset center where students can work with coordinators on their behaviors while staying engaged in their schoolwork.
The district has been looking at how they approach discipline for a few years, said Trustee Joyce Foreman.
"I know in the schools in my district I have not seen that turn out to be better, because we continue to have some of those serious issues that continue with our young people,” she said.
She said students may need an alternative setting other than DAEP.
The board is expected to approve the updates to the student code of conduct at its next meeting on May 22.
Olla Mokhtar is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Olla at omokhtar@kera.org.
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