During its April 14 work-study meeting, the board of trustees of the Katy Independent School District heard an update on the district’s discipline management plan related to fighting, physical contact and assault. The matter was placed on the agenda following public outrage over a video recently posted to social media, which showed a March incident at Taylor High School involving a male and female student engaged in a physical altercation.

Two of the evening’s four public speakers -- Rebecca Trahan and Danny Gianfrancesco -- spoke about the incident during public comments. Although he did not identify himself as such during his public comments during the board meeting, Gianfrancesco told the Houston Chronicle on Monday he’s the father of the female student, identifying her as a 15-year-old freshman. “If this video didn’t exist, I’d be just another frustrated parent,” Gianfrancesco said.

“I think part of the exercise here, besides informational, is also for the board to think about, if there's any tweaking or adjusting that we need to make to the policy going forward,” board President Victor Perez said.

Sherry Ashorn, Director of Student Affairs for Katy ISD, presented a brief summary of the district’s board-approved discipline management plan. She said that physical contact is not tolerated on school property and that if confronted, a student should avoid striking back. Self-defense is not an excuse for avoiding disciplinary action, she said. The policy was updated about five years ago to give administrators a better understanding of the definition of self-defense, Ashorn said.

Ashorn also listed six factors which are to be considered in the disciplinary process: intent, disciplinary history, self-defense, a disability which could affect a participant's judgment, whether a student is homeless or whether a student is in foster care. She said administrators at each campus use a “discipline matrix” which ensures consistency among grade levels to set consequences for offenses. Other questions to be considered by administrators include labeling the behavior, confirming jurisdiction, and determining whether or not the student being attacked was able to flee.

In response to a question from board Vice President Amy Thieme, Ashorn said that the definition of self-defense has been clarified by the district in recent years. Three factors to be considered, said Ashorn, are: is the student without fault in provoking the incident, did the student act as the aggressor and did the student use a minimum amount of force to remove themselves from danger.

Perez suggested that the definition of “self-defense” could be improved. Trustee Rebecca Fox requested more district-wide statistics over the school year in order to get a better understanding of “how discipline looks across the district.”

The regular board meeting for April will take place on April 22.