A kindergartner in McKinney, Texas, was ordered to spend 30 days at his district's disciplinary campus. The letter was dated on his 6th birthday, the first day state law allowed him to be sent there.

He is far from alone. In the 2022-23 school year, Texas made nearly 4,000 placements of elementary students in disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEPs), according to state data reported by The Hechinger Report. Texas bans these placements for children 5 and under, but sets no limit once a child turns 6.

DAEPs were created for the most serious offenses. Yet district records show young children sent away for weeks over defiance, attendance problems, or rude language toward staff. Many programs make students work in silence on computers. Child development experts say that is not how young kids learn, and that time away can leave them behind in basic reading and math, isolated from friends, and fearful of teachers.

Some of these children may have disabilities that no one has identified. The McKinney boy's mother says she kept trying to get him evaluated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) before he was removed. And families have little power to push back: in most cases, districts are not required to offer an appeal.

The Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) can fix this. Lawmakers should end DAEP placements for elementary students except in genuine safety emergencies, require a disability evaluation before any young child is removed, and guarantee every family the right to appeal.

Sign the petition to keep Texas's youngest students in the classroom, before another 6-year-old is sent away.