In 1995, the 74th Texas Legislature enacted significant legislation affecting the way education and juvenile justice systems respond to violent and disruptive students in public schools. Chapter 37: Discipline; Law and Order of the Texas Education Code, codified the Texas plan to make schools safe, to reduce the dropout rate, to curtail juvenile crime, and to increase students' chances of success.

District and county officials have long recognized that children who are left behind in the educational system are deprived of skills and socialization essential for future success. Most also agree that students who are expelled are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior resulting in increased costs to society both now and in the future. This recognition has resulted in an extraordinary level of collaboration between the county’s nine independent school districts, the County of Galveston, and Galveston area service providers. The Galveston County JJAEP exemplifies our community's commitment to the education of all students.

The mission of the Galveston County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program is to provide a quality education by:

• creating a safe school environment that supports the teaching and learning
environment;

• assisting students on developing attitudes and behaviors essential to becoming
well-adjusted adults who are able and willing to continue to positively contribute
to the general welfare of our society;

• providing an instructional program that results in a level of student progress that
exceeds one year increase in academic performance in the areas of reading and
math for one year of instruction; and

• providing a course of instruction, which prepares the student to perform at grade level.