All four referrals happened at Seagoville High School or Seagoville Middle School.
Dallas ISD reported four referrals to law enforcement and three school related arrests across the seven campuses in the Seagoville High School feeder pattern during the 2023 to 2024 school year.
The five elementary campuses in the feeder pattern reported no referrals and no arrests. What remains unanswered is what the students allegedly did.
The newly released federal data identify how many students were referred to law enforcement or arrested. The files do not connect those actions to specific incidents or alleged offenses. They also do not show criminal charges or final court outcomes.
Seagoville Feeder Pattern Results
The U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection covers referrals made by school officials. It applies to conduct on school property or during school activities or aboard school transportation.
A referral can include a citation or a ticket or a court referral or a report to a school police unit. It counts even when police take no additional action.
A school related arrest occurs when an officer takes a student into custody and intends to seek charges. It also counts when the officer only appears to intend to seek charges. Every school related arrest is counted as a law enforcement referral as well.
Referrals and arrests by campus
Seven Seagoville feeder pattern schools during the 2023 to 2024 school year
The three referrals at Seagoville Middle involved two students. That means at least one student was referred more than once during the year. Both students were reported as having school related arrests.
Seagoville High reported one referral involving one student and one arrest.
The federal definition includes an officer taking a student into custody when charges only appear to be intended. The arrest count therefore does not establish that prosecutors ultimately filed a criminal case.
How Seagoville High Compares
Shop in Seagoville examined six traditional Dallas ISD high schools for a fairer comparison. Each of those campuses enrolled within 300 students of Seagoville High.
School related arrests per 1,000 students
Dallas ISD high schools of comparable size during the 2023 to 2024 school year
Enrollment ranged from 1,537 students at South Oak Cliff to 2,074 students at W.T. White. Seagoville High enrolled 1,829 students. The six comparison schools together reported 15 arrests among 10,895 students for a combined rate of about 1.38 arrests per 1,000 students.
The Seagoville High rate was approximately 0.55 arrests per 1,000 students. That figure sat below the combined rate of the comparison group. It also fell substantially below Hillcrest and South Oak Cliff.
Only W.W. Samuell reported no referrals and no arrests. W.T. White reported a slightly lower rate than Seagoville.
The numbers do not establish that one campus was safer than another. Arrest totals can be shaped by student conduct or campus reporting practices or administrative decisions. Police practices matter as well, along with whether an incident is handled through school discipline or the courts.
Fifty Two Attacks, but Which Led to Police?
A separate section of the federal collection shows that Seagoville High reported 52 physical attacks or fights without a weapon during the year. Seagoville Middle reported 71.
The federal definition includes an intentional touching or striking against the will of another person. It also includes intentionally causing bodily harm. The category can therefore cover conduct ranging from a shoving match to a serious assault.
Reported as zero at both campuses
- Firearm incidents
- Other weapon incidents
- Robbery
- Rape
- Sexual assault
However the federal files do not connect the reported fights to police referrals or arrests at either campus. It would be inaccurate to conclude that the Seagoville High arrest resulted from fighting. The same caution applies to the Seagoville Middle arrests and to all four referrals.
The arrest records could involve assault or drugs or a threat or property damage. They could also involve a weapon outside the federal offense table or another alleged violation. The public data do not say.
District Report Offers Limited Answers
The separate Dallas ISD violent or criminal incident report recorded 18 serious incidents districtwide for the same year. The report groups them by type.
- 7 aggravated assaults involving students
- 4 incidents involving firearms
- 4 incidents involving prohibited weapons
- 1 incident involving an illegal knife
- 1 sexual assault involving students
- 1 aggravated robbery
That report does not identify the campuses where the incidents occurred. It also does not connect those incidents to the referrals and arrests reported to the federal government. The result is a significant information gap.
Parents can learn that Seagoville High reported one arrest and Seagoville Middle reported two. They cannot determine from the published records what alleged conduct led officers to take those students into custody. The records also do not show whether charges were filed or how the cases ended.
The Missing Public Record
Campus level totals are an important starting point. They deliver little accountability without offense categories and outcomes.
Dallas ISD could improve transparency by publishing annual campus level summaries. Those summaries could show the alleged conduct behind each referral and whether the incident ended in a citation or a custodial arrest. They could also list the general charge category and whether authorities declined or pursued charges.
Such summaries could still protect student identities. Families would gain a clearer view of when behavior becomes a school discipline matter and when it becomes a police matter.
The available data show that referrals and arrests were uncommon across the Seagoville feeder pattern. Both were concentrated entirely at the high school and the middle school.
Counts without explanations
Until Dallas ISD connects referrals and arrests to general offense categories the published record will remain incomplete. Families are left with numbers and no account of what happened behind them.
