Corporal punishment may still be legal in Texas schools, but several San Antonio-area districts say paddling, spanking and other forms of physical discipline have no place in their classrooms.
Northside, North East, San Antonio, Edgewood, East Central, Harlandale, Southside, Somerset and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISDs all told the Express-News they do not allow or use corporal punishment. At least two districts have formally removed the practice from their policies in recent years.
Northside ISD’s policy explicitly prohibits corporal punishment.
“Students shall not be spanked, paddled, or subjected to other physical force as a means of discipline for violations of the Student Code of Conduct,” the policy states.
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San Antonio ISD and Harlandale ISD also prohibit corporal punishment under district policy. Edgewood and Southside ISDs prohibit the practice in their student handbooks.
East Central and North East ISDs confirmed they do not use corporal punishment.
For two other area districts, the change is more recent.
Somerset ISD’s school board removed corporal punishment from district policy in October 2023.
Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD followed last month, when its Board of Trustees voted to remove corporal punishment from district policies during its July meeting.
The Texas Education Code defines corporal punishment as “the deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping, or any other physical force used as a means of discipline.”
State law allows public school districts to use corporal punishment, leaving local school boards to decide whether to permit it. Parents and guardians can submit a written statement prohibiting its use on their child.
The policies of San Antonio-area districts come as corporal punishment faces renewed scrutiny in Texas after a high school football player said his coach struck him three times with a paddle during practice.
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Noah Lopez, a sophomore running back at Memorial High School in Port Arthur, told KPRC 2 that he was paddled after coaches questioned him about missing school and wearing the wrong color football pants. Lopez said he missed school because his mother, who had recently been seriously injured in a car crash, could not drive him.
Port Arthur ISD said it is reviewing the incident and whether district policies and procedures were followed. The district currently allows corporal punishment under its board-approved policy.
The Board of Trustees is expected to revisit the policy and consider possible changes.
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This article originally published at Texas allows schools to paddle students. These San Antonio-area districts don’t.