[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 969 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 969

 To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Gun-
  Free Schools Act of 1994 to authorize schools to apply appropriate 
discipline measures in cases where students have weapons or threaten to 
                  harm others, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 5, 1999

 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 authorize schools to apply appropriate 
discipline measures in cases where students have weapons or threaten to 
                  harm others, 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 my be cited as the ``School Safety Act of 1999''.

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

    (a) Placement in Alternative Educational Settings.--Section 615(k) 
of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking ``45 days if--'' 
        and all that follows through ``(II) the child'' and inserting 
        ``45 days if the child'';
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``A hearing'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (10), a hearing'';
            (3) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11);
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new 
        section:
            ``(10) Expulsion or suspension with respect to weapons.--
                    ``(A) Authority of school personnel with respect to 
                weapons.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
                Act, school personnel may suspend or expel a child with 
                a disability who--
                            ``(i) 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; or
                            ``(ii) 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;
                in the same manner in which such personnel would 
                suspend or expel a child without a disability.
                    ``(B) Definitions.--For the purposes of this 
                paragraph:
                            ``(i) Weapon.--The term `weapon' has the 
                        meaning given the term under applicable State 
                        law.
                            ``(ii) Threatens to carry, possess, or use 
                        a weapon.--The term `threatens to carry, 
                        possess, or use a weapon' includes behavior in 
                        which a child verbally threatens to kill 
                        another person.
                    ``(C) Free appropriate public education.--
                            ``(i) Ceasing to provide education.--A 
                        child expelled or suspended under subparagraph 
                        (A) shall not be entitled to continued 
                        educational services, including, but not 
                        limited to a free appropriate public education, 
                        under this Act, 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 
                        suspended or expelled.
                            ``(ii) Providing education.--
                        Notwithstanding clause (i), the local 
                        educational agency responsible for providing 
                        educational services to a child with a 
                        disability who is expelled or suspended under 
                        subparagraph (A) may choose to continue to 
                        provide educational services to such child. If 
                        the local educational agency so chooses, then--
                                    ``(I) nothing in this Act shall 
                                require the local educational agency to 
                                provide such child with a free 
                                appropriate public education, or any 
                                particular level of service; and
                                    ``(II) the site where the local 
                                educational agency provides the 
                                services shall be left to the 
                                discretion of the local educational 
                                agency.''.
            (5) in paragraph (11) (as redesignated in paragraph (3)), 
        by striking subparagraph (D).
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 612(a)(1)(A) of the Individuals with 
        Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(1)(A)) is amended 
        by inserting before the period ``(except as provided in section 
        615(k)(10))''.
            (2) Section 615(f)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities 
        Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(f)(1)) is amended by inserting at 
        the beginning of the first sentence ``Except as provided in 
        section 615(k)(10),''.

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(k)(10) of the 
Individual with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(10)).''.
                                 <all>