PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 3835 PRINTER'S NO. 4053
No. 2782 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, L. I. COHEN, OLASZ, CORRIGAN, PHILLIPS,
WAUGH, C. WILLIAMS, B. SMITH, BROWNE, E. Z. TAYLOR,
GIGLIOTTI, MASLAND, WALKO, VAN HORNE, BELFANTI, BOSCOLA, COY,
GEIST, HARHAI, D. W. SNYDER, McNAUGHTON, TRELLO, DALLY,
BAKER, RAMOS, SEYFERT AND SEMMEL, SEPTEMBER 17, 1998
AS RE-REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, NOVEMBER 9, 1998
AN ACT
1 Requiring all school districts to develop a comprehensive school
2 violence prevention plan.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the School
7 Violence Prevention Act.
8 Section 2. Legislative intent.
9 It is the intent of the General Assembly that:
10 (1) All Pennsylvania school districts develop a
11 comprehensive and coordinated school violence prevention plan
12 relevant to the specific needs of the district and drawing on
13 existing State and community resources with the goal to
14 create a safe school environment while assuring that
15 appropriate procedures are in place to deal with crisis
16 situations which might occur.
1 (2) The school violence prevention plan is to be
2 developed by a broad-based violence prevention task force
3 based on an assessment of the current needs and resources of
4 the district in the areas of violence prevention and
5 intervention, including an analysis of the types and
6 frequency of crimes and incidents of violence currently
7 occurring on school property or at school-sponsored
8 activities and a review of available community-based
9 resources to address family and youth-related issues.
10 (3) The school violence prevention plan should include
11 appropriate strategies and programs to address both school
12 safety and violence prevention.
13 Section 3. Definitions.
14 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
15 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
16 context clearly indicates otherwise:
17 "Department." The Department of Education of the
18 Commonwealth.
19 "Local law enforcement agencies." Local police departments,
20 regional Pennsylvania State Police field installations or
21 headquarters, county sheriffs' offices and school district
22 police or security departments.
23 "Plan." The school violence prevention plan developed and
24 adopted by a school district pursuant to this act.
25 "PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE OF 1949." THE ACT OF MARCH 10, 1949 <--
26 (P.L.30, NO.14), KNOWN AS THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE OF 1949.
27 "School board." The local board of school directors of a
28 school district.
29 "School Code of 1949." The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, <--
30 No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949.
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1 "Secretary." The Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth.
2 "Task force." The locally constituted violence prevention
3 task force formed pursuant to this act.
4 Section 4. Violence prevention plan.
5 (a) Plan required.--By August 1, 1999, every school district
6 shall develop and submit to the department a violence prevention
7 plan. The plan shall be submitted to the department only after
8 it is recommended by the violence prevention task force created
9 pursuant to section 6 and approved by the school board.
10 (b) Public inspection.--The violence prevention plan shall
11 be made available for public inspection in the school district
12 offices for at least 30 days prior to its approval by the school
13 board.
14 (c) Duration.--The violence prevention plan shall remain in
15 effect until it is superseded by an approved revision.
16 (d) Revisions.--Any revisions to the original plan submitted
17 to the department shall be approved by the school board with the
18 advice of its task force and the revised plan submitted to the
19 department.
20 Section 5. Preliminary assessments.
21 (a) Needs assessment.--Before beginning development of its
22 plan, the task force shall undertake a needs assessment to
23 determine specific issues and concerns within the district and
24 its surrounding community. This should include documentation of
25 current problems such as truancy, fighting, vandalism, weapons-
26 related offenses and drug-related and alcohol-related incidents
27 already occurring within the school environment, as well as an
28 evaluation of the district's physical environment in order to
29 identify locations which may be particularly isolated or
30 violence prone.
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1 (b) Review of existing programs.--Concurrent with the needs
2 assessment the task force shall also compile a list of school-
3 based and community-based programs for young people already
4 available to deal with violence prevention, intervention and
5 rehabilitation.
6 Section 6. Violence prevention task force.
7 (a) Membership.--The plan provided for in section 4 shall be
8 prepared for submission to the school board by a violence
9 prevention task force whose membership shall, at a minimum,
10 include: district administrators, teachers, guidance counselors,
11 school nurses and school directors; parents; students; local law
12 enforcement agencies; community and business leaders; probation
13 and court representatives; social service and health care
14 providers; and other youth-serving professionals.
15 (b) Public hearing.--The task force shall hold at least one
16 public hearing prior to preparing its plan for submission to the
17 school board for approval.
18 Section 7. Content of school violence prevention plan.
19 The plan developed by the task force and submitted to the
20 department shall include the following components:
21 (1) A brief description of the process used to develop
22 the plan, including the members of the task force, the date
23 of public hearings held and the date and official vote by
24 which the local board adopted the plan.
25 (2) Procedures for assuring compliance with existing
26 laws related to school safety including:
27 (i) Article XIII-A of the PUBLIC School Code of <--
28 1949.
29 (ii) Section 1317.1 of the PUBLIC School Code of <--
30 1949.
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1 (iii) Section 1317.2 of the PUBLIC School Code of <--
2 1949.
3 (iv) Sections 5311 through 5314 of the School Code <--
4 of 1949.
5 (IV) SECTIONS 1 THROUGH 4 OF THE ACT OF JULY 12, <--
6 1972 (P.L.765, NO.181) ENTITLED, "AN ACT RELATING TO
7 DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AND THEIR ABUSE, PROVIDING FOR PROJECTS
8 AND PROGRAMS AND GRANTS TO EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES, OTHER
9 PUBLIC OR PRIVATE AGENCIES, INSTITUTIONS OR
10 ORGANIZATIONS."
11 (v) 18 Pa.C.S. Ch. 61 (relating to firearms and
12 other dangerous articles).
13 (vi) 23 Pa.C.S. Ch. 23 Subch. C.2 (relating to
14 background checks for employment in schools).
15 (vii) 23 Pa.C.S. Ch. 63 Subch. B (relating to
16 provisions and responsibilities for reporting suspected
17 child abuse) governing reporting of child abuse.
18 (3) A code of student conduct.
19 (i) The code of conduct shall conform to the State
20 Board of Education regulations found in 22 Pa. Code 12.3
21 (relating to school rules).
22 (ii) The code shall clearly explain school rules and
23 punishments for infractions.
24 (iii) The code shall include conformity with the
25 zero-tolerance provisions regarding weapons found in
26 section 1317.3 of the PUBLIC School Code of 1949; and any <--
27 other zero-tolerance offenses as established by the
28 school board.
29 (iv) The code shall include any establishment of a
30 uniform schoolwide dress code pursuant to section 1317.2
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1 of the PUBLIC School Code of 1949. <--
2 (v) At the beginning of each school year students
3 shall be furnished with a copy of the current code of
4 student conduct adopted by the school board. Copies shall
5 also be made available to administrators, parents and
6 teachers within the district.
7 (4) Establishment of policies to insure consistent crime
8 reporting by school officials to law enforcement to include
9 development of memoranda of understanding in compliance with
10 section 1303-A of the PUBLIC School Code of 1949. <--
11 (5) A comprehensive school crisis plan which outlines
12 policies and procedures for dealing with potential crisis
13 situations which, depending on a local assessment of those
14 situations most likely to occur in the district, may include
15 facilities problems such as electrical outages; fires;
16 protests, strikes or other unrest; natural disasters;
17 transportation delays, problems or accidents; individual
18 child accidents; medical problems involving multiple
19 students, such as a meningitis outbreak; individual medical
20 crises including alcohol and drugs; individual mental health
21 crises including trauma and suicide; intentional acts against
22 persons, including assaults, rape, assaults with weapons,
23 assaults with chemicals, bomb threats or bullying; hostage
24 situations; abductions, kidnappings or missing persons; and
25 events outside school that may affect the school community,
26 such as a major crime or accident such as an airline crash. A
27 comprehensive crisis plan should include the following
28 elements:
29 (i) Prevention guidelines which outline policies to
30 prevent incidents. These may include curricular offerings
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1 or special age-appropriate programs to develop students'
2 interpersonal skills such as peer mediation, mentoring,
3 peer intervention and conflict resolution; staff
4 training; techniques and procedures for identification
5 and reporting by staff and students of potential violent
6 or criminal acts; disciplinary and counseling procedures
7 for drug-related and alcohol-related incidents; and
8 implementation of specific safety procedures to be put in
9 place within the district, such as mandatory visitor
10 identification.
11 (ii) Early interventions which delineate activities
12 and guidelines to inform people of how to assess a
13 potential problem and what to do about it. These may
14 include staff training in assessment tools for predicting
15 violent juvenile behavior, bomb threat procedures and
16 crisis training drills so students and staff know what to
17 do if an emergency occurs.
18 (iii) Crisis intervention guidelines which include
19 directions on how to get help, specific steps to be taken
20 and steps to avoid. These should be developed in concert
21 with existing memoranda of understanding developed with
22 law enforcement pursuant to section 1301-A(c) of the
23 PUBLIC School Code of 1949. Specific issues that should <--
24 be addressed in the guidelines include lines of
25 responsibility, reporting procedures, communications
26 protocols, special equipment and materials needs, etc.
27 (iv) Support guidelines which identify needs and
28 available resources in terms of support for staff,
29 students, families and others after a crisis situation
30 occurs. This may include referral to counseling,
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1 rehabilitation or other intervention programs available
2 in the local community.
3 (v) Debriefing and evaluation which outlines
4 procedures for all responders to meet following an
5 incident in order to evaluate how the various components
6 of the plan operated in actual application.
7 (vi) Revisions and upgrading of plan which are based
8 on evaluation and other input from responders, victims,
9 staff and others involved in the incident.
10 (6) Any other programs, curricular offerings or
11 procedures that the task force deems necessary to the safe
12 and orderly operation of the district.
13 Section 8. State resources.
14 (a) General rule.--In developing its plan, districts A <--
15 DISTRICT may utilize the existing resources of the Center for
16 Safe Schools established by the Department of Education and <--
17 Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit and the Office of Safe
18 Schools established pursuant to section 1302-A of the School
19 Code of 1949 PURSUANT TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CODE OF 1949. In <--
20 particular, districts may reference the Toolkit for School
21 Safety Planning developed by the Center for Safe Schools.
22 (b) Dissemination of model plans.--The Department of
23 Education, through its Office for Safe Schools, shall develop
24 and make available to school districts model violence prevention
25 plans drawn from programs already offered in the State and
26 nationally. These model plans shall include any pertinent
27 supporting materials and information indicating why the model
28 was selected and where it was previously used. These models may
29 be used by individual districts and their task forces to develop
30 their local plans. The department shall make every effort to
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1 assure that multiple model plans are available which reflect
2 rural, suburban and urban perspectives.
3 Section 9. Regional planning.
4 (a) Cooperation.--In order to provide for maximum
5 coordination of efforts and to avoid duplication, one or more
6 districts may join to form a consortium for the purposes of
7 developing their violence prevention plan and may form a single
8 joint task force to assist them in this regard.
9 (b) Intermediate unit utilization.--Districts may utilize
10 the services of their intermediate units to facilitate such
11 regional planning.
12 (c) Submission of individual plan required.--The provisions
13 of this section notwithstanding, each district which is a member
14 of such a consortium shall submit its own plan, adopted by its
15 school board, to the department.
16 Section 10. Effective date.
17 This act shall take effect immediately.
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