H.P. 1250 - L.D. 1798
An Act to Implement the Recommendations of the Commission to Study Providing Educators with More Authority to Remove Violent Students from Educational Settings
Mandate preamble. This measure requires one or more local units of government to expand or modify activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues but does not provide funding for at least 90% of those expenditures. Pursuant to the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 21, two thirds of all of the members elected to each House have determined it necessary to enact this measure.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §254, sub-§11 is enacted to read:
11. Statewide standards for behavior. In consultation with organizations representing school boards, school administrators, teachers, parents and other interested local officials and community members, the commissioner shall develop statewide standards for responsible and ethical student behavior. The standards must require annual reporting of incidents of violent and harmful behavior by or against students to the department by school administrative units. The department shall provide forms for reporting.
Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §1001, sub-§§15 and 16 are enacted to read:
15. Adoption of student code of conduct. With input from educators, administrators, parents, students and community members, they shall adopt a district-wide student code of conduct consistent with the statewide standards for student behavior developed under section 254, subsection 11. The student code of conduct must:
A. Define unacceptable student behavior;
B. Establish standards of student responsibility for behavior;
C. Prescribe consequences for violation of the student code of conduct, including first-time violations, when appropriate;
D. Describe appropriate procedures for referring students in need of special services to those services;
E. Establish criteria to determine when further assessment of a current individual education plan is necessary, based on removal of the student from class;
F. Establish policies and procedures concerning the removal of disruptive or violent students from a classroom or a school bus, as well as student disciplinary and placement decisions, when appropriate; and
G. Establish guidelines and criteria concerning the appropriate circumstances when the superin-tendent or the superintendent's designee may provide information to the local police or other appropriate law enforcement authorities regarding an offense that involves violence committed by any person on school grounds or other school property.
The school board is responsible for ensuring that school officials inform students, parents and community members of the student code of conduct.
16. Crisis response plan. Working with local public safety, mental health and law enforcement officials, they shall develop a crisis response plan to deal with crises and potential crisis situations involving violent acts by or against students in each school in the school administrative unit.
Sec. 3. 20-A MRSA §6001-B is enacted to read:
§6001-B. Transfer of education records
1. Education records must follow students who transfer. Education records must follow students who transfer to a school in another school administrative unit in the State. The education records of students who transfer from out-of-state schools are also subject to this requirement.
2. Transfer of records. Upon application of a student to transfer to another school administrative unit in this State or to enroll at a school administrative unit in this State from a school outside of the State, and upon the written request of the superintendent of the school administrative unit into which the student seeks admission, school administrators at the school administrative unit from which the student is transferring shall provide all of the student's education records, including special education records, to school administrators at the school administrative unit to which the student is seeking a transfer.
3. Determination of disciplinary status of student applying for transfer; discretion of school to accept student. At the request of the superintendent of the school administrative unit into which a student seeks admission, the student's current or former school administrators shall provide, in a timely fashion, an oral or written report to the receiving school administrative unit indicating whether the student has been expelled or suspended or is the subject of an expulsion or suspension proceeding. In the case of a student who has been expelled or suspended or is the subject of an expulsion or suspension proceeding, the receiving school administrative unit may deny admission or participation in public school programs, facilities or activities as part of an equivalent instruction program pursuant to section 5021 until the school administrative unit is satisfied that the conditions of the expulsion or suspension have been met.
4. Notice to parents and guardians. Prior to the start of the 2000-01 school year and each school year thereafter, a school administrative unit shall send a written notice to parents or guardians of every student enrolled in the school administrative unit that education records must be sent to a school administrative unit to which a student applies for transfer. The notice provided to parents and guardians must comply with the standards of the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Public Law 93-380, as amended by Public Law 93-568.
Sec. 4. 20-A MRSA §6553, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 531, is amended to read:
A. "Injurious hazing" means any action or situation which, including harassing behavior, that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health of any school personnel or a student enrolled in a public school.
Sec. 5. 26 MRSA §832, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1987, c. 402, Pt. B, §21, is further amended to read:
1. Employee. "Employee" means a person who performs a service for wages or other remuneration under a contract of hire, written or oral, expressed or implied, but does not include an independent contractor engaged in lobster fishing. Employee "Employee" includes school personnel and a person employed by the State or a political subdivision of the State.
Sec. 6. 26 MRSA §832, sub-§2, as reallocated by PL 1983, c. 583, §15, is amended to read:
2. Employer. "Employer" means a person who has one or more employees. Employer "Employer" includes an agent of an employer and the State, or a political subdivision of the State. "Employer" also means all schools and local education agencies.
Sec. 7. 26 MRSA §833, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 782, §4, is amended to read:
B. The employee, acting in good faith, or a person acting on behalf of the employee, reports to the employer or a public body, orally or in writing, what the employee has reasonable cause to believe is a condition or practice that would put at risk the health or safety of that employee or any other individual. The protection from discrimination provided in this section specifically includes school personnel who report safety concerns to school officials with regard to a violent or disruptive student;
Sec. 8. Implementation of student behavior standards. The Commissioner of Education shall develop standards for responsible and ethical student behavior under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 254, subsection 11 for implementation by school administrative units beginning in school year 2000-2001. The commissioner shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by January 15, 2000 on the status of the development of the standards.
Effective September 18, 1999, unless otherwise indicated.
| Revisor of Statutes Homepage | Subject Index | Search | Laws of Maine | Maine Legislature |
