This update to the Employee Standards of Conduct policy (DH) makes extensive revisions including: replacing "Code of Conduct" references with "Employee Handbook," updating terminology from "policies" to "procedures/administrative regulations," adding a broadened definition of electronic communication, expanding student misconduct prohibitions (adding specific categories A–D), adding new "Compliance with Student Safety" and "Implementation" sections with a December 31, 2026 deadline, and refining the Employment Assistance Prohibited and Employee Disruptive Activities sections.
Legal Compliance Details Mixed
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Definition of 'Electronic Communication' and approved methods for employee-student communication Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: District defined 'electronic communication' broadly and required that only District-approved communication methods be used with currently enrolled students. No statute in the analysis requires or expressly authorizes this specific restriction.
Requirement that all electronic communications with students include a copy to the parent or guardian Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: District chose to require parental/guardian copying on all student electronic communications. No statute in the analysis mandates or expressly authorizes this specific requirement.
Prohibition on employee abuse, neglect, or misconduct including specific categories A–D (unlawful acts with students/minors, romantic/sexual contact, inappropriate communications, failure to maintain appropriate boundaries) Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: District created a four-part categorical misconduct framework. The statute analysis contains no requirement or permission matching these specific enumerated categories as articulated in the policy. References to FFH and FFG local/legal policies are internal cross-references, not independently analyzed statutes in the provided analysis.
Employee Disruptive Activities section — definition and prohibitions referencing TEC §37.123 and §37.124 Required by LawStatutory basis: TEC §37.123; TEC §37.124
Verified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: The policy anchors its definition of disruptive activity to TEC §37.123 and §37.124. The district's choice to reference these statutes by name and apply them specifically to employees in a standalone section is a local framing decision, but the underlying prohibitions are statutory.
Removal of enumerated list of specific disruptive activities and related disciplinary/reporting provisions Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: The prior policy contained an 11-item enumerated list of disruptive activities, disciplinary action language, and Superintendent reporting authority. Removing this detail and replacing it with a statutory cross-reference is a local drafting choice. TEC §37.123 and §37.124 do not require or prohibit such enumeration in district policy.
Prohibition on assisting employees or contractors with misconduct history in obtaining new employment Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: District added an anti-facilitation provision prohibiting assistance in new employment for individuals with sexual misconduct, abuse, or EMB violations. The statute analysis contains no requirement or permission for this specific prohibition.
Compliance with Student Safety section — employees required to comply with enumerated Board Policies Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: District created a new section directing employee compliance with multiple named local and legal policies (EFA, EFB, EMB, FFG, FFF). This is a local administrative aggregation mechanism with no matching statutory mandate in the analysis.
Implementation section — Superintendent directed to adopt procedures and implement policy by December 31, 2026 Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: The December 31, 2026 implementation deadline, direction to the Superintendent to adopt procedures, and inclusion of provisions in the Employee Handbook and employment documents are all local administrative choices with no statutory basis identified in the analysis.
Scope limitation on employee-student communications — within professional responsibilities only Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: District specified that communications must be 'within the scope of the employee's professional responsibilities and duties related to any student, as appropriate.' This operational limitation is a local policy standard not compelled or expressly authorized by any statute in the analysis.
Removal of 'Service Provider' definition and narrowing of policy applicability from service providers to employees Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: Although TEC §11.174 references service providers in the context of campus operation contracts, the statute analysis does not require or prohibit including or excluding service providers from employee conduct policy. The removal is a local drafting and scope decision.
Terminology updates — replacing 'Code of Conduct' with 'Employee Handbook' and 'policies' with 'procedures/administrative regulations' Locally DiscretionaryVerified via: verbatim statute text
Local additions: These are editorial and organizational changes reflecting the district's internal document structure. No statute in the analysis requires or prohibits any specific terminology for employee conduct documents.