[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2517 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2517

 To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Gun-
Free Schools Act of 1994 to allow school personnel to apply appropriate 
discipline measures to all students in cases involving weapons, illegal 
       drugs, and assaults upon teachers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 8, 2000

 Mr. Ashcroft introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Gun-
Free Schools Act of 1994 to allow school personnel to apply appropriate 
discipline measures to all students in cases involving weapons, illegal 
       drugs, and assaults upon teachers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``School Safety Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.

    (a) Procedural Safeguards.-- Section 615 of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(n) Discipline by Local Authority With Respect to Weapons, Drugs, 
and Teacher Assaults.--
            ``(1) Authority of school personnel with respect to 
        weapons, drugs, and teacher assaults.--Notwithstanding any 
        other provision of this title, school personnel may discipline 
        (including expel or suspend) a child with a disability in the 
        same manner in which such personnel may discipline a child 
        without a disability if the child with a disability--
                    ``(A) carries or possesses a weapon to or at a 
                school, on school premises, or to or at a school 
                function under the jurisdiction of a State or a local 
                educational agency;
                    ``(B) threatens to carry, possess, or use a weapon 
                to or at a school, on school premises, or to or at a 
                school function under the jurisdiction of a State or a 
                local educational agency;
                    ``(C) possesses or uses illegal drugs or sells or 
                solicits the sale of a controlled substance while at 
                school, on school premises, or at a school function 
                under the jurisdiction of a State or local educational 
                agency; or
                    ``(D) assaults or threatens to assault a teacher, 
                teacher's aide, principal, school counselor, or other 
                school personnel, including independent contractors and 
                volunteers.
            ``(2) Individual determinations.--In carrying out any 
        disciplinary action described in paragraph (1), school 
        personnel have discretion to consider all germane factors in 
        each individual case and modify any disciplinary action on a 
        case-by-case basis.
            ``(3) Defense.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed 
        to prevent a child with a disability who is disciplined 
        pursuant to the authority provided under paragraph (1) from 
        asserting a defense that the alleged act was unintentional or 
        innocent.
            ``(4) Free appropriate public education.--
                    ``(A) Ceasing to provide education.--
                Notwithstanding section 612(a)(1)(A), or any other 
                provision of this title, a child expelled or suspended 
                under paragraph (1) shall not be entitled to continued 
                educational services, including a free appropriate 
                public education, under this subsection, during the 
                term of such expulsion or suspension, if the State in 
                which the local educational agency responsible for 
                providing educational services to such child does not 
                require a child without a disability to receive 
                educational services after being expelled or suspended.
                    ``(B) Providing education.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraph (A), the local educational agency 
                responsible for providing educational services to a 
                child with a disability who is expelled or suspended 
                under paragraph (1) may choose to continue to provide 
                educational services to such child. If the local 
                educational agency so chooses to continue to provide 
                the services--
                            ``(i) nothing in this subsection shall be 
                        construed to require the local educational 
                        agency to provide such child with a free 
                        appropriate public education, or any particular 
                        level of service; and
                            ``(ii) the location where the local 
                        educational agency provides the services shall 
                        be left to the discretion of the local 
                        educational agency.
            ``(5) Relationship to other requirements.--
                    ``(A) Plan requirements.--No agency shall be 
                considered to be in violation of section 612 or 613 
                because the agency has provided discipline, services, 
                or assistance in accordance with this subsection.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--None of the procedural safeguards 
                or disciplinary procedures of this Act shall apply to 
                this subsection, and the relevant procedural safeguards 
                and disciplinary procedures applicable to children 
                without disabilities may be applied to the child with a 
                disability in the same manner in which such safeguards 
                and procedures would be applied to children without 
                disabilities.
            ``(6) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Threaten to carry, possess, or use a 
                weapon.--The term `threaten to carry, possess, or use a 
                weapon' includes behavior in which a child verbally 
                threatens to kill another person.
                    ``(B) Weapon, illegal drug, controlled substance, 
                and assault.--The terms `weapon', `illegal drug', 
                `controlled substance', `assault', `unintentional', and 
                `innocent' have the meanings given such terms under 
                State law.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 615 of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ``Whenever'' and 
        inserting the following: ``Except as provided in section 
        615(n), whenever''; and
            (2) in subsection (k)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraph (A) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(A) In any disciplinary situation except for such 
        situations as described in subsection (n), school personnel 
        under this section may order a change in the placement of a 
        child with a disability to an appropriate interim alternative 
        educational setting, another setting, or suspension, for not 
        more than 10 school days (to the extent such alternatives would 
        apply to children without disabilities).'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
                following:
    ``(3) Any interim alternative educational setting in which a child 
is placed under paragraph (1) or (2) shall--
            ``(A) be selected so as to enable the child to continue to 
        participate in the general curriculum, although in another 
        setting, and to continue to receive those services and 
        modifications, including those described in the child's current 
        IEP, that will enable the child to meet the goals set out in 
        that IEP; and
            ``(B) include services and modifications designed to 
        address the behavior described in paragraphs (1) or (2) so that 
        it does not recur.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (6)(B)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``(i) In 
                        reviewing'' and inserting ``In reviewing''; and
                            (ii) by striking clause (ii);
                    (D) in paragraph (7)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (1)(A)(ii) or'' each place it 
                        appears; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (1)(A)(ii) or''; and
                    (E) by striking paragraph (10) and inserting the 
                following:
    ``(10) Substantial evidence.--The term `substantial evidence' means 
beyond a preponderance of the evidence.''.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE GUN-FREE SCHOOLS ACT OF 1994.

    Subsection (c) of section 14601 of the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 
(20 U.S.C. 8921) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Special Rule.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
section, this section shall be subject to section 615(n) of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(n)).''.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

    The amendments made by sections 2 and 3 shall not apply to conduct 
occurring prior to the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>