The Safe Schools Act: What's
Legally Covered
I frequently am asked whether
certain acts (or failures to act) on the part of school administrators
are violations of the Safe Schools Act. It is apparent from
these questions that there is a misperception about what the
act provides.
Safe Schools Act breakdown
The Safe Schools Act, contained in sections 160.261–160.272
of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, can be broken down into
four main areas:
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Each local school
board shall establish a written discipline policy.
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The policy shall
require administrators to report acts of school violence
to district employees with a “need to know.”
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Administrators
must report to law enforcement students’ acts that would
constitute a felony if adults committed them.
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The policy shall
provide for a one-year suspension or expulsion of a student
who brings a weapon to school in violation of school policy.
Specific behavior
The question most frequently
asked deals with whether a student must be disciplined in
a certain way for specific behavior. With the exception of
weapons violations, the act does not provide for specific
discipline for specific behaviors. What behaviors merit discipline
and the discipline to be administered for those behaviors
are left up to the school’s discipline policy. Therefore,
unless a student has brought a weapon to school, the place
to look for the discipline required in specific situations
is the district’s discipline policy, not the Safe Schools
Act.
Threats
Another area of concern centers on what
must be done when a student has threatened a teacher. Once
again, the school’s discipline policy must be consulted first.
The act itself mandates no specific course of action for a
threat. The act requires the policy to define “an act of violence”
and to require reporting of acts of violence to district employees
with a need to know. At a minimum, an act of violence must
be defined as the “exertion of physical force by a student
with the intent to do serious bodily harm to another person.”
The lesson to be learned
is that the Safe Schools Act does not require specific actions
in most of the situations with which district employees are
faced on a regular basis. The school’s discipline policy provides
the guidance to which we must turn. It is important for district
employees to be familiar with the discipline policy. If the
policy does not address areas of concern, discuss with your
UniServ director and/or local association leaders the best
method by which to bring your concerns to the administration
and school board.
by Jacqueline
Shipma
Director of legal services
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