Students in the Houston public schools caught sexting -- sending sexual images via cell phone -- could soon face punishment, officials say.

The board of the Houston Independent School District is expected to approve a change to the student code of conduct at a meeting Thursday, the Houston Chronicle reports. The change would make sexting a violation of school rules.

Students caught doing it could face a range of punishments, from a parent conference to transfer to an alternative high school. Officials say cell phones would also be confiscated, and any images appearing to violate the law would be sent to police.

Hans Graff, a lawyer for the school district, said officials decided to change the code of conduct because principals were concerned.

"To the extent it's an issue, we want to put kids on notice we're not going to tolerate it," he said.

Graff said there are no plans to monitor students' cell phones and acknowledges any ban on sexting would be difficult to enforce. But he said the rule can be invoked if an image spreads widely.