Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §255, sub-§6 is enacted to read:

6.__Student behavior.__The commissioner shall require that school administrative units disclose violent or threatening behavior by a student, either in school or outside the institutional setting, to counseling personnel within the unit and to any teacher to whose class the student has been assigned for instruction or who provides education services to that student.__The information must be provided prior to the student's placement in or return to the educational setting.

A.__The juvenile justice system, local police departments and mental health agencies shall disclose violent or threatening behavior by the student to the superintendent or the superintendent's designee.

Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §5105 is enacted to read:

§5105.__Alternative placement

1.__Continuum of interventions.__If a student is chronically disruptive, suspended or expelled, the superintendent shall develop a continuum of interventions that provide a broad range of programs and services including alternative educational settings and alternative community placement.

2.__Intervention and placement teams.__If a student is chronically disruptive, suspended or expelled, an intervention and placement team must be convened to make decisions regarding placement or intervention.__The team must consist of, at a minimum, the parent or guardian, the building level administrator and any teacher to whose class the student is assigned.

SUMMARY

This bill seeks to provide for a safe and more orderly environment for Maine's public school students by requiring that school administrative units disclose violent or threatening behavior by a student to counseling personnel within the unit and classroom teachers and by requiring alternative educational settings and community placement for students that are chronically disruptive, suspended or expelled.