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David
Blount, Editor
While students, parents, educators, policymakers and
communities in general long have been concerned about the
safety of students while at school, the issue of crime and
violence occurring at school, and intolerance of it, has
reached new heights in recent years in the wake of highly
publicized incidents of violence at schools. Yet, as noted in
the Are Our Schools Really Safe? policy briefing,
children are safer now than at any time in the past 30 years.
Virginia policymakers have been very active during the past
decade in addressing issues related to violence occurring at
school. Much attention has been focused in recent years on the
Annual Report on Discipline, Crime and Violence. The state has
been collecting data for this report on various incidents
related to weapons and assaults, alcohol and other drugs and
threats.
Numerous measures have been considered and approved in efforts
to preserve and enhance the safety of the school environment.
In compliance with the 1994 federal Gun Free Schools Act, the
General Assembly approved HB 1614 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=951&typ=bil&val=hb1614)
and SB 874 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=951&typ=bil&val=sb874
) in 1995 to require school boards to expel from school
attendance for one year, any student determined to have
brought a firearm onto school property or to a
school-sponsored activity. That same year, HB 2508 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?951+sum+HB2508
) was approved (after failing the previous year) to establish
new provisions for reporting and preventive activities
concerning violence at school. It required school boards to
develop, in cooperation with law enforcement, the courts,
parents and the community, programs to prevent violence and
crime on school property and school sponsored events. It was
suggested that such programs might include school crime lines,
peer mediation, conflict resolution, and community service
requirements.
To address the physical safety of teaching and learning
environments, HB 1851 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=971&typ=bil&val=hb1851
), approved in 1997, required schools to conduct school safety
audits to identify and evaluate patterns of student safety
concerns and to develop solutions for physical safety
concerns, including building security issues. The legislation
recommended establishment of school safety audit committees to
evaluate the safety of schools and to submit a plan to the
local school board for improving school safety. That same
year, responding to concerns from teachers about classroom
discipline problems, the General Assembly approved HB 1877 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=971&typ=bil&val=hb1877
), which gave statutory authority for teachers to initially
remove disruptive students from class. This new law required
student conduct policies to contain procedures for the
notification of parents of any incident report and for the
opportunity to meet with school personnel to discuss the
student's behavior. As a potential deterrent to student crime,
HB 2595 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=971&typ=bil&val=hb2595
) required school boards to provide information to students
regarding the prosecution of juveniles as adults for the
commission of certain crimes.
The legislature established the first "Day of National Concern
About Young People and Gun Violence with the 1998 passage of
HJ 415 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?981+ful+HJ415ER
). The resolution promoted the designated day as one for young
people to sign a pledge against gun violence, promising never
to bring a gun to school, never to use a gun to resolve a
dispute, and to use their influence to keep friends from using
guns to settle disputes. Similar resolutions were approved in
subsequent years. Also that year, the Board of Education and
Attorney General were directed, through HB 1343 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=981&typ=bil&val=hb1343
) to establish guidelines for school boards to use when
conducting student searches. Two years later, school boards
were directed to adopt regulations governing student searches
that were consistent with those guidelines. An unsuccessful
attempt was made that year through SB 511 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=981&typ=bil&val=sb511
) to require criminal history background checks for school
volunteers.
In 1999, HB 1445 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=991&typ=bil&val=hb1445
) established a program to provide state funding for school
resource officers, whose duties would be to ensure safety and
prevent truancy and violence in schools. Funding of $1 million
was included in the budget for FY2000 for this program, to
provide matching grants to school boards employing such
officers in middle and high schools. SB 1244 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=991&typ=bil&val=sb1244
) permitted law enforcement authorities to report to
principals certain student offenses, wherever committed,
involving drug, weapon or violence-related incidents. SB 827 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=991&typ=bil&val=sb827
) required each school to develop a written school crisis and
emergency management plan, describing procedures, operations,
and assignments required to prevent, manage, and respond to a
critical event or emergency.
In 2000, HB 391 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=001&typ=bil&val=hb391
) established the Virginia Center for School Safety within the
Department of Criminal Justice Services, whose primary role is
to serve as a resource for local school divisions on school
safety matters (these functions essentially had been handled
within the Department of Education). The legislature also
approved SB 197 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=001&typ=bil&val=sb197
) that prohibits anyone convicted of an "offense prohibiting
proximity to children" from loitering within 100 feet of a
school. Through SJ 240 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=001&typ=bil&val=sj240
), the legislature directed the State Crime Commission to
study the use of cameras, monitors, and other surveillance
equipment by school divisions.
In 2001, HB 197 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=011&typ=bil&val=hb197
) and SB 847 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=011&typ=bil&val=sb847
) established a Class 6 felony for knowingly communicating a
written or electronic threat to kill or do bodily injury on
school property or at a school event, regardless of whether
the threat is actually received. The legislature also took
note of student driver safety by enacting, after much debate,
HB 2554 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=011&typ=bil&val=hb2554
) and SB 1329 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=011&typ=bil&val=sb1329
), which increase the minimum age for obtaining a learner's
permit or driver's license and place several new restrictions
on drivers under age 18, including those on travel between
midnight and 4 a.m. and on the number of juvenile passengers
that may accompany a driver under the age of 18. The bills
also direct the BOE to set the minimum number of miles to be
driven during the behind-the-wheel portion of driver education
programs.
In 2002, incidents involving "acts of terrorism" were required
to be added to those events that must be addressed in school
crisis and emergency plans through passage of HB 46 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=021&typ=bil&val=hb46
) and SB 442 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=021&typ=bil&val=sb442
). HB 886 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=021&typ=bil&val=hb886
) and SB 230 (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=021&typ=bil&val=sb230
) require those plans to contain procedures by which parents
can contact the school or school division about the location
and safety of their children, and by which school officials
may contact parents during a critical event or emergency.
As evident in this and other policy briefings in the School
Environment area, many states were very active during the
1990's in tackling challenges to the safety and security of
school environments. New challenges are now presenting
themselves, especially in light of the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001 and the October 2002 sniper incidents in
Virginia. As resources continue to be re-prioritized at all
levels of government to respond to various security concerns,
it is likely that the state legislature will entertain various
measures aimed at providing additional assurances of security
at schools. The Secure Virginia Panel established by Governor
Warner will drive additional legislative activity in this
area. The group has recommended, and the governor accepted,
that an assessment of the current organizational structure for
public school emergency planning be done, citing that crisis
management planning is the cornerstone of making schools safer
and more secure. The governor also has accepted another
recommendation that calls for a task force to develop
guidelines for administrators regarding student eligibility
verification and the sharing of student information related to
possible or actual criminal activity. Finally, additional
measures could address bullying and harassment issues, as
other states already have done.
1994-HB 1123 (school violence and crime
reporting/prevention), HB 1194 (firearms penalties), SB 292 (lookalike
weapons)
1995-HB 1614, HB 2140 and SB 874 (Gun Free Schools), HB 2380
(firearms penalties), HB 2508
1996-HB 1152 and HB 1235 (penalties for furnishing
ammunition), SB 138 (firearms penalties)
1997-HB 1851, HB 1877, HB 2595, SB 764 (firearms penalties),
HJ 593 (school discipline study)
1998-HB 1343, SB 511, HJ 415
1999-HB 1445, HB 1799 (school violence
intervention/prevention), HB 2714 (posting of firearms laws
pertaining to minors), SB 827, SB 1244, HJ 740 (study of
providing school violence reports to parents), HJ 817 (Day of
National Concern)
2000-HB 391, HB 1445 (student search regulations), SB 197, HJ
270 (Day of National Concern), SJ 240 (study of school
surveillance equipment)
2001-HB 197 and SB 847, HB 2512 and SB 1359 (discipline code
revisions), HB 2554 and SB 1329
2002-HB 46 and SB 442, H 886 and SB 230, SB 622 (Gun Free
School zones)
Others states also have been very active recently in
adopting legislation designed to ensure the safety of students
at school. A new School Bullying Prevention Act in Oklahoma
requires local school boards' discipline policies to prohibit
bullying. The state Board of Education will distribute a list
of programs that aim to prevent bullying. Louisiana and West
Virginia require local school board policies that prohibit
harassment, intimidation and bullying in their student conduct
codes. In Tennessee, local school boards are required to adopt
written policies that prohibit hazing (defined in the Code),
to distribute such policy to students and to set aside time to
discuss the policy with students
Mississippi has approved a school safety act that establishes
a School Safety Center and crisis management program to assist
schools in times of crisis and in developing required school
safety plans. Oklahoma schools are required to report
incidents of violence against school personnel to the state
Department of Education. Texas requires students who make
terrorist threats or false reports to be placed in alternative
programs or be expelled. Kentucky law defines the term "terroristic
threat" as it relates to schools and adds weapons of mass
destruction to its list of deadly weapons.
Numerous measures were introduced, but not approved, in the
107th Congress to address school safety issues, many of which
proposed grants to states or local school divisions for
carrying out various activities. H.R. 1216, the Comprehensive
School Safety Act, would have authorized the Secretary of
Education to make grants for schools to develop and implement
comprehensive school safety plans. H.R. 1812, known as the
School Anti-Violence Empowerment Act, envisioned grants to
local school divisions for crisis intervention programs and
school safety programs for students, staff and school
facilities. S. 747, the School Safety Fund Act of 2001,
proposed grants for school violence prevention and school
safety activities in secondary schools, including a) for the
purchase of metal detectors, surveillance cameras, and other
school security equipment, and b) to provide training to
teachers, administrators, and other school personnel in
identifying, detecting, and responding to early warning signs
of troubled and potentially violent youth. H.R. 899, dubbed
the School Safety Hotline Act of 2001, would have provided
grants for establishing and maintaining school violence
hotlines.
http://www.sreb.org/main/LegAction/legrept/legreptindex.asp
http://www.commonwealthpreparedness.state.va.us/
http://thomas.loc.gov/
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