Effective this school year, the Alternative Classes program is housed in the new Klein ISD Annex building, 7302 Kleingreen Lane, Klein, Texas 77379. The new Klein ISD Annex building is located at the intersection of Lyons School Road and Kleingreen Lane (across the street from Mittelstadt Elementary).

K. E. Kaufman is the director of KISD's disciplinary alternative education program. Mr. Kaufman opened Alternative Classes in January 1994 with a staff of 10 that included Speech Communications teacher Claudette Hunt and school secretary Mary McVeigh. Kevin Wood is associate principal. Counselor Colleth Punch joined the administrative staff in 2005. Counselor Marcy Wilson joined the administrative staff in August 2008, transferring from Klein Intermediate.

Twenty three teachers instruct students in the core academic areas of English Language Arts (English and Reading), Math, Science and Social Studies, as well as electives in the areas of Art, Computer Science, Health, Physical Education, Spanish, and Speech Communications.

A standardized dress code for students assigned to Alternative Classes was approved by Klein ISD Board of Trustees and adopted in 2004-2005. The dress code will remain effective 2010-2011 and will be enforced from the time students board the bus for transit to school until the student de-boards the bus at their assigned stop. Alternative Classes dress code for both girls and boys includes beige khaki pants worn at the waist (no shorts, Capri length pant, skirt, or dress), a solid color black, brown or white belt with a small belt buckle, a white shirt with a collar (no logo or writing) that is long enough to tuck neatly into pants at the waist (a white or light gray undershirt may be worn under the white collared shirt), and white or black shoes with corresponding colored shoelaces and a white or light gray sweatshirt (no hood, no logo or writing) for classroom appropriate outer wear. Shirts must be tucked into pants with the belt showing and pants must be worn at the waist on arrival to school. If a belt is not worn or a belt is loose, twist ties may be used to keep the pants at the waist. The dress code will be strictly enforced – campus isolated instruction or out of school suspension could be assigned on the first dress code violation.

On arrival to school, students must have shirts tucked in at the waist and belts on and fastened. As students enter the Annex building each day, they should be prepared to remove their belt, turn out all pockets from pants, and remove any metal objects that would cause alert from a metal detector. Metal objects should be turned over to designated Alternative Classes staff who supervise transit through the metal detector. Students must pass through the metal detector with palms up.

The KISD Student Handbook contains a guideline concerning attendance at the Alternative Education Classes. The approved recommendation states that a student assigned to the disciplinary alternative education program (Alternative Classes) will be required to make up days missed due to truancy and/or out-of-school suspension for disciplinary incidents before returning to his/her home campus.

Please phone Judy Brown in the Alternative Classes Attendance Office, 832-249-4804, before or on the date of your student’s absence. Send a note to the attendance secretary that specifies the dates and reason of your student’s absence whenever your student is absent from school. This note should be received in the attendance office within five days of the absence. Refer to the KISD Student Handbooks for information on student attendance.

Klein ISD and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office will continue the “Stay in School” program which is designed to increase school attendance. An explanation of the program is as follows:

Once your child has reached the legal limit of unexcused absences, a warning letter will be sent to your home and hand-delivered to your child in school. Within five days of receipt of this letter, you will be required to attend a conference at your child’s school, to discuss your child’s truancy problem and attempt to rectify it before criminal charges are filed. If, however, your child continues to incur additional unexcused absences, the school will file a case in the Justice of the Peace court, where you and your child must appear in response to the charges. Further, a more comprehensive program will be implemented, where your child must not miss additional school days and must submit to a social service evaluation and, where applicable, follow-up on social service referrals. Your child will be eligible for this program only one time. If your child deviates from the terms of the program, additional conditions will be added, such as attendance at a truancy camp and completion of community service hours. Non-compliance will ultimately lead to charges being filed against your child in a Harris County Juvenile District Court.

Students assigned to Alternative Classes are enrolled in the district's new web-based communication service through their home campus. District campuses utilize ParentLink to send information to parents as soon as possible. The service delivers informative and emergency messages to parents via several communication methods including phone and e-mail. Should schools need to close early due to weather, for example, this system would notify you via home phone, cell phone, or email. In addition, schools use ParentLink to keep you up to date on important school wide information or changes relating to groups in which your child participates.