Tens of thousands of students enrolled in Texas public schools have faced legal action in the state over the past 12 years for a wide range of misbehavior.
asserted
thousands → enrol → misbehavior
Since 2014, more than 47,000 students just within the 10- to 13-year-old age group have been referred for prosecution by police officers posted within schools.
asserted
students → refer → schools
In severe cases, the students assaulted classmates and teachers, made threats or even brought weapons to school.
asserted
students → assault → school
In tamer cases, they used marijuana vapes or acted disruptively in class.
asserted
they → use → class
Officials in many Texas school districts have said that police presence on their campuses has made them safer.
asserted
them → say → campuses
Critics claim that more officers lead to more arrests in cases that should have been handled by schools rather than law enforcement.
uncertain
that → claim → enforcement
An analysis of Texas Juvenile Justice Department records conducted by The New York Times in partnership with The San Antonio Express-News revealed that from 2014 to 2017, prosecution referrals among 10- to 13-year-olds were flat at around 3,500 per year.
asserted
referrals → conduct → year
That was followed by an uptick to a little more than 4,000 per year from 2017 to 2019, followed by a steep decline during COVID school closures in 2020 and 2021.
asserted
That → follow → 2020
Then came the Uvalde school shooting in May 2022, which claimed the lives of 19 elementary school students and two teachers, and left 18 others injured.
uncertain
which → come → others
More than 47,000 Texas students between the ages of 10 and 13 have been referred for prosecution by school officers since 2014.
asserted
students → refer → 2014
Police are pictured outside a Texas school
asserted
Police → picture → school
The number of prosecution referrals increased after the Uvalde school shooting, which led to a law requiring an officer at every public school.
asserted
which → increase → school
Police are pictured outside the elementary school where the shooting took place
Following the horrific tragedy, the Texas legislature passed a law requiring an officer to be stationed at every public school in the state.
asserted
officer → picture → state
In the following years, student prosecution referrals skyrocketed.
asserted
referrals → follow → years
Between 2023 and 2025, referrals came back down to around 4,500 per year, which was still an increase of around 22 percent compared to a decade earlier.
asserted
which → come → percent
The heightened police presence at Texas schools has at times stopped potential school shootings from taking place.
asserted
presence → heighten → place
In April 2024 at Claughton Middle School in the Houston area, a random K9 search led police to find a gun and arrest a student, whose age and gender were not disclosed.
asserted
age → lead → student
In May of last year, San Antonio authorities said they thwarted a shooting that a 13-year-old boy was planning to commit at his middle school.
uncertain
boy → say → school
Also in May of last year at a different San Antonio middle school, an 11-year-old boy was arrested after police said a gun was found in his backpack.
uncertain
gun → arrest → backpack
And earlier this year, a 12-year-old student was also arrested for bringing a gun to his middle school in Humble, a city just north of Houston.
asserted
student → arrest → Houston
Heightened police presence has stopped potential school shootings, and many students have been arrested for bringing guns to school.
asserted
students → stop → school
An officer is pictured at a Texas school
asserted
officer → picture → school
Critics of police on campuses say that more officers lead to more arrests of children in cases that should have been handled by schools.
asserted
that → say → schools
Officers are pictured outside a Texas school
asserted
Officers → picture → school
There are plenty of additional examples of gun arrests on middle school campuses around the state, but the number pales in comparison to the total amount of prosecution referrals.
asserted
number → be → referrals
Critics of heightened police presence at Texas public schools say that the majority of those referrals were for minor misbehavior, and that arresting children as young as 10 can be traumatizing and lead to further behavioral issues and declining academic performance down the road.
asserted
arresting → heighten → road
A mother from Galveston named Laquital Thompson told the New York Times that her 12-year-old daughter with a behavioral disorder was suspended a week into starting middle school because she had been 'disruptive.'
Staff told the girl to wait for her mother in the lobby, but when she refused, an officer was summoned and placed her in handcuffs after an exchange that lasted just a few minutes, the mother said.
asserted
mother → name → exchange
Body camera footage confirmed her account.
asserted
footage → confirm → account
Later in the footage, which was reviewed by the Times, the 12-year-old girl was taken to a police station, and officers twisted her arm after she refused to scan her fingerprint.
asserted
she → review → fingerprint
The girl screamed and began crying before she complied.
asserted
she → scream → ?
She was later charged with trespassing and was put on probation for a year after pleading guilty.
asserted
She → charge → year
Thompson said that after the incident, her daughter began to have even more difficulty paying attention and behaving in school.
asserted
daughter → say → school
'She just gave up,' the mom said.
asserted
mom → give → ?
Texas law states that officers in schools are not supposed to be involved in 'routine student discipline,' but the law does not define what that means.
asserted
that → state → what
School district police officials say that officers on campus increase safety.
asserted
officers → say → safety
An officer is pictured high-fiving a student as he goes to school
Phillip Lyons, the dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University and a former detective who handled juvenile cases, told the Times: 'The cops are supposed to be there to protect the children from shooters.
'
asserted
cops → picture → shooters
If there aren’t any shooters, the cops are going to do what cops do, and that is arrest.
asserted
that → be → what
But school district police officials stand by the state's approach to stationing more officers on campuses.
asserted
officials → stand → campuses
Kirby Warnke, the chief of the Corpus Christi school district's police department and president of the Texas School District Police Chiefs’ Association, told the Times that youngsters getting arrested can be a 'teaching moment.'
asserted
youngsters → tell → Times
Joseph Sanders, the former chief of the Forney school district's police department, told the outlet that after the department was created in 2020, it successfully reduced violent behavior and threats among students.
asserted
it → tell → students
The Aporia
