SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 944
90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR CASKEY.
Read 1st time February 1, 2000, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
4297S.01I
AN ACT
To repeal sections 160.261 and 167.117, RSMo Supp. 1999, relating to weapons at public schools, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Sections 160.261 and 167.117, RSMo Supp. 1999, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 160.261 and 167.117, to read as follows:
160.261. 1. The local board of education of each school district shall clearly establish a written policy of discipline, including the district's determination on the use of corporal punishment and the procedures in which punishment will be applied. A written copy of the district's discipline policy and corporal punishment procedures, if applicable, shall be provided to the pupil and parent or legal guardian of every pupil enrolled in the district at the beginning of each school year and also made available in the office of the superintendent of such district, during normal business hours, for public inspection. All employees of the district shall annually receive instruction related to the specific contents of the policy of discipline and any interpretations necessary to implement the provisions of the policy in the course of their duties, including but not limited to approved methods of dealing with acts of school violence, disciplining students with disabilities and instruction in the necessity and requirements for confidentiality.
2. The policy shall require school administrators to report acts of school violence to teachers and other school district employees with a need to know. For the purposes of this act, "need to know" is defined [to mean] as school personnel who are directly responsible for the student's education or who otherwise interact with the student on a professional basis while acting within the scope of their assigned duties. As used in this section, the phrase "act of school violence" or "violent behavior" means the exertion of physical force by a student with the intent to do serious physical injury as defined in subdivision (6) of section 565.002, RSMo, to another person while on school property, including a school bus in service on behalf of the district, or while involved in school activities. The policy shall at a minimum require school administrators to report, as soon as reasonably practical, to the appropriate law enforcement agency any of the following felonies, or any act which if committed by an adult would be one of the following felonies:
(1) First degree murder under section 565.020, RSMo;
(2) Second degree murder under section 565.021, RSMo;
(3) Kidnapping under section 565.110, RSMo;
(4) First degree assault under section 565.050, RSMo;
(5) Forcible rape under section 566.030, RSMo;
(6) Forcible sodomy under section 566.060, RSMo;
(7) Burglary in the first degree under section 569.160, RSMo;
(8) Burglary in the second degree under section 569.170, RSMo;
(9) Robbery in the first degree under section 569.020, RSMo;
(10) Distribution of drugs under section 195.211, RSMo;
(11) Distribution of drugs to a minor under section 195.212, RSMo;
(12) Arson in the first degree under section 569.040, RSMo;
(13) Voluntary manslaughter under section 565.023, RSMo;
(14) Involuntary manslaughter under section 565.024, RSMo;
(15) Second degree assault under section 565.060, RSMo;
(16) Sexual assault under section 566.040, RSMo;
(17) Felonious restraint under section 565.120, RSMo;
(18) Property damage in the first degree under section 569.100, RSMo; or
(19) The possession of a weapon under chapter 571, RSMo; committed on school property, including but not limited to actions on any school bus in service on behalf of the district or while involved in school activities. The policy shall require that any portion of a student's individualized education program that is related to demonstrated or potentially violent behavior shall be provided to any teacher and other school district employees who are directly responsible for the student's education or who otherwise interact with the student on an educational basis while acting within the scope of their assigned duties. The policy shall also contain the consequences of failure to obey standards of conduct set by the local board of education, and the importance of the standards to the maintenance of an atmosphere where orderly learning is possible and encouraged.
3. The policy shall provide for a suspension for a period of not less than one year, or expulsion, for a student who is determined to have brought a weapon to school in violation of district policy, except that:
(1) The superintendent, or in a school district with no high school, the principal of the school which such child attends may modify such suspension on a case-by-case basis; and
(2) This section shall not prevent the school district from providing educational services in an alternative setting to a student suspended under the provisions of this section.
For purposes of this subsection, "school", shall include the entire real property comprising the school, including parking lots, playgrounds, activity facilities and all other parts of the school campus and shall also include school buses.
4. For the purpose of this section, the term "weapon" shall mean a "firearm" as defined under 18 U.S.C. 921 and the following items, as defined in section 571.010, RSMo: a blackjack, a concealable firearm, an explosive weapon, a firearm, a firearm silencer, a gas gun, a knife, knuckles, a machine gun, a projectile weapon, a rifle, a shotgun, a spring gun or a switchblade knife; except that this section shall not be construed to prohibit a school board from adopting a policy to allow a Civil War reenactor to carry a Civil War era weapon on school property for educational purposes so long as the firearm is unloaded. The local board of education shall define "weapon" in the discipline policy. Such definition shall include the weapons defined in this subsection but may also include other weapons.
5. All school district personnel responsible for the care and supervision of students are authorized to hold every pupil strictly accountable for any disorderly conduct in school or on any property of the school, on any school bus going to or returning from school, during school-sponsored activities, or during intermission or recess periods.
6. Teachers and other authorized district personnel in public schools responsible for the care, supervision, and discipline of school children, including volunteers selected with reasonable care by the school district, shall not be civilly liable when acting in conformity with the established policy of discipline developed by each board under this section.
7. Each school board shall define in its discipline policy acts of violence and any other acts that constitute a serious violation of that policy. Acts of violence as defined by school boards shall include but not be limited to exertion of physical force by a student with the intent to do serious bodily harm to another person while on school property, including a school bus in service on behalf of the district, or while involved in school activities. School districts shall for each student enrolled in the school district, compile and maintain records of any serious violation of the district's discipline policy. Such records shall be made available to teachers and other school district employees with a need to know while acting within the scope of their assigned duties, and shall be provided as required in section 167.020, RSMo, to any school district in which the student subsequently attempts to enroll.
8. Spanking, when administered by certificated personnel of a school district in a reasonable manner in accordance with the local board of education's written policy of discipline, is not abuse within the meaning of chapter 210, RSMo. The provisions of sections 210.110 to 210.165, RSMo, notwithstanding, the division of family services shall not have jurisdiction over or investigate any report of alleged child abuse arising out of or related to any spanking administered in a reasonable manner by any certificated school personnel pursuant to a written policy of discipline established by the board of education of the school district. Upon receipt of any reports of child abuse by the division of family services pursuant to sections 210.110 to 210.165, RSMo, which allegedly involves personnel of a school district, the division of family services shall notify the superintendent of schools of the district or, if the person named in the alleged incident is the superintendent of schools, the president of the school board of the school district where the alleged incident occurred. If, after an initial investigation, the superintendent of schools or the president of the school board finds that the report involves an alleged incident of child abuse other than the administration of a spanking by certificated school personnel pursuant to a written policy of discipline or a report made for the sole purpose of harassing a public school employee, the superintendent of schools or the president of the school board shall immediately refer the matter back to the division of family services and take no further action. In all matters referred back to the division of family services, the division of family services shall treat the report in the same manner as other reports of alleged child abuse received by the division. If the report pertains to an alleged incident which arose out of or is related to a spanking administered by certificated personnel of a school district pursuant to a written policy of discipline or a report made for the sole purpose of harassing a public school employee, a notification of the reported child abuse shall be sent by the superintendent of schools or the president of the school board to the juvenile officer of the county in which the alleged incident occurred. The report shall be jointly investigated by the juvenile officer or a law enforcement officer designated by the juvenile officer and the superintendent of schools or, if the subject of the report is the superintendent of schools, by the juvenile officer or a law enforcement officer designated by the juvenile officer and the president of the school board or such president's designee. The investigation shall begin no later than forty-eight hours after notification from the division of family services is received, and shall consist of, but need not be limited to, interviewing and recording statements of the child and the child's parents or guardian within two working days after the start of the investigation, of the school district personnel allegedly involved in the report, and of any witnesses to the alleged incident. The juvenile officer or a law enforcement officer designated by the juvenile officer and the investigating school district personnel shall issue separate reports of their findings and recommendations after the conclusion of the investigation to the school board of the school district within seven days after receiving notice from the division of family services. The reports shall contain a statement of conclusion as to whether the report of alleged child abuse is substantiated or is unsubstantiated. The school board shall consider the separate reports and shall issue its findings and conclusions and the action to be taken, if any, within seven days after receiving the last of the two reports. The findings and conclusions shall be made in substantially the following form:
(1) The report of the alleged child abuse is unsubstantiated. The juvenile officer or a law enforcement officer designated by the juvenile officer and the investigating school board personnel agree that the evidence shows that no abuse occurred;
(2) The report of the alleged child abuse is substantiated. The juvenile officer or a law enforcement officer designated by the juvenile officer and the investigating school district personnel agree that the evidence is sufficient to support a finding that the alleged incident of child abuse did occur;
(3) The issue involved in the alleged incident of child abuse is unresolved. The juvenile officer or a law enforcement officer designated by the juvenile officer and the investigating school personnel are unable to agree on their findings and conclusions on the alleged incident.
9. The findings and conclusions of the school board shall be sent to the division of family services. If the findings and conclusions of the school board are that the report of the alleged child abuse is unsubstantiated, the investigation shall be terminated, the case closed, and no record shall be entered in the division of family services central registry. If the findings and conclusions of the school board are that the report of the alleged child abuse is substantiated, the division of family services shall report the incident to the prosecuting attorney of the appropriate county along with the findings and conclusions of the school district and shall include the information in the division's central registry. If the findings and conclusions of the school board are that the issue involved in the alleged incident of child abuse is unresolved, the division of family services shall report the incident to the prosecuting attorney of the appropriate county along with the findings and conclusions of the school board, however, the incident and the names of the parties allegedly involved shall not be entered into the central registry of the division of family services unless and until the alleged child abuse is substantiated by a court of competent jurisdiction.
10. Any superintendent of schools, president of a school board or such person's designee, or juvenile officer who knowingly falsifies any report of any matter pursuant to this section or who knowingly withholds any information relative to any investigation or report pursuant to this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
167.117. 1. In any instance when any person is believed to have committed an act which if committed by an adult would be assault in the first, second or third degree, sexual assault, or deviate sexual assault against a pupil or school employee, while on school property, including a school bus in service on behalf of the district, or while involved in school activities, the principal shall immediately report such incident to the appropriate local law enforcement agency and to the superintendent, except in any instance when any person is believed to have committed an act which if committed by an adult would be assault in the third degree and a written agreement as to the procedure for the reporting of such incidents of third degree assault has been executed between the superintendent of the school district and the appropriate local law enforcement agency, the principal shall report such incident to the appropriate local law enforcement agency in accordance with such agreement.
2. In any instance when a pupil is discovered to have on or about such pupil's person, or among such pupil's possessions, or placed elsewhere on the school premises, including parking lots, playgrounds, activity facilities and all other parts of the school campus or on a school bus, any controlled substance as defined in section 195.010, RSMo, or any weapon as defined in subsection 4 of section 160.261, RSMo, in violation of school policy, the principal shall immediately report such incident to the appropriate local law enforcement agency and to the superintendent.
3. In any instance when a teacher becomes aware of an assault as set forth in subsection 1 of this section or finds a pupil in possession of a weapon or controlled substances as set forth in subsection 2 of this section, the teacher shall immediately report such incident to the principal.
4. A school employee, superintendent or such person's designee who in good faith provides information to police under subsection 1 or 2 of this section shall not be civilly liable for providing such information.
5. Any school official responsible for reporting pursuant to this section or section 160.261, RSMo, who willfully neglects or refuses to perform this duty shall be subject to the penalty established pursuant to section 162.091, RSMo.