[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 651 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 651

  To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide 
 increased authority for school personnel to discipline children with 
         disabilities who engage in certain dangerous behavior.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 14, 2001

  Mr. Graves introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide 
 increased authority for school personnel to discipline children with 
         disabilities who engage in certain dangerous behavior.

    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 ``Safe Classrooms Act of 2001''.

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

    (a) Placement in Alternative Educational Setting.--Section 615(k) 
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
            ``(10) Discipline with regard to certain dangerous 
        behavior.--
                    ``(A) Authority of school personnel.--
                Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, school 
                personnel may discipline (including expel or suspend) 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,
                            ``(ii) knowingly possesses or uses illegal 
                        drugs or sells or solicits the sale of a 
                        controlled substance 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
                            ``(iii) commits an aggravated assault or 
                        battery (as defined under State or local law) 
                        at a school, on school premises, or at a school 
                        function, under the jurisdiction of a State or 
                        a local educational agency,
                in the same manner in which such personnel may 
                discipline a child without a disability, consistent 
                with State and local law. Such personnel may modify the 
                disciplinary action on a case-by-case basis.
                    ``(B) Rule of construction.--Nothing in 
                subparagraph (A) shall be construed to prevent a child 
                with a disability who is disciplined pursuant to the 
                authority provided under clause (i) or (ii) of 
                subparagraph (A) from asserting a defense that the 
                carrying or possession of the weapon, or that the 
                possession or use of the illegal drugs (or sale or 
                solicitation of the controlled substance), as the case 
                may be, was unintentional or innocent.
                    ``(C) Free appropriate public education.--
                            ``(i) Ceasing to provide education.--
                        Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal 
                        law, a child expelled or suspended under 
                        subparagraph (A) shall not be entitled to 
                        continue educational services, including a free 
                        appropriate public education, required under 
                        Federal law 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.
                            ``(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 or mental health 
                        services to such child. If the local 
                        educational agency so chooses to continue to 
                        provide the services--
                                    ``(I) nothing in any other 
                                provision of law shall require the 
                                local educational agency to provide 
                                such child with 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.
                    ``(D) Relationship to other requirements.--
                            ``(i) 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 paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Procedure.--Actions taken pursuant 
                        to this paragraph shall not be subject to the 
                        provisions of this section, other than this 
                        paragraph.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Section 615(f)(1) of the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(f)(1)) is 
amended by striking ``Whenever'' and inserting the following: ``Except 
as provided in section 615(k)(10), whenever''.
    (2) Section 615(k)(1)(A)(ii) of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended in the matter 
preceding subclause (I) by inserting before ``to an appropriate interim 
educational setting'' the following: ``except as provided in paragraph 
(10),''.
                                 <all>