Section 9. Legislative Issues

The following potential legislative actions were raised for consideration:

1. Mandate that all schools develop and implement school safety plans.
2. Modify laws (e.g., the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) to ensure that disruptive or violent students can be removed from traditional school settings and placed in alternative programs.
3. Consider modifying confidentiality statutes to allow sharing of information about problematic juveniles between appropriate law enforcement, social service, juvenile justice, and school authorities.
4. Consider legislation that holds firearm owners criminally responsible when minors gain access to improperly stored firearms.
5. Consider legislation that requires all firearms sold be equipped with trigger locks or another child-safety device.
6. Consider legislation that would permit public school districts to require students to wear uniforms.
7. Consider legislation requiring all new public school construction and major renovations to existing public school facilities conform to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design guidelines.
8. Require all public school systems to provide training in the areas of behavior management, crisis management, and violence prevention.
9. Provide adequate funding for any new legislatively mandated school safety requirements.
10. Consider providing funding for the following:
    • Optimal class and school sizes in pre-K through 12.
    • Compensation for law enforcement and security personnel at after-school events.
    • Programs for violence prevention and intervention.
    • Expanded use of probation, law enforcement, and social services on campus.
    • Expand use of safety and security teams that may include, but are not limited to, school board members, security professionals, administrators, law enforcement, parents, probation officers, faculty, staff, and students.
    • All the individual counseling attention students need.
    • After-school programs with the potential to benefit students.
    • Alternative education programs for students not successful in traditional school settings.
    • Expanded use of School Resource Officers (SROs) on school campuses.