Click's Legislation Improving School Safety Signed by Governor

COLUMBUS – State Representative Gary Click’s (R-Vickery) legislation to establish an updated school expulsion policies to bolster school safety has been signed into law Wednesday.

House Bill 206 will give greater flexibility to district officials and superintendents when dealing with students who bring weapons to school or make certain actionable threats against the physical safety of others. The bill authorizes school districts to establish conditions for dangerous students to have satisfied before their reinstatement from expulsion. It further requires that districts provide a free psychological evaluation and continuing education to the student during that time; two requirements which are notably absent from existing law.

“Parents are entrusting schools to protect their children while they are away from the home,” said Click. “This legislation will help keep students safe by empowering school administrators to address situations where a student poses an imminent and severe threat to the safety of students, while also developing clear guardrails and conditions for the reinstatement of an expelled student. These situations can be complex, so this legislation allows school administrators to use their discretion to address the need that works best for their community.”

The bill defines “imminent and severe endangerment” as one of the following four threats:

• Bringing a firearm or a knife capable of causing serious bodily injury to school, a property owned or controlled by the school board, or to an interscholastic competition, extracurricular event, or other program or activity sponsored by the school district or in which the district is a participant;
• Committing an act that is a criminal offense when committed by an adult and that results in serious physical harm to persons or property while at any of the above locations;
• Making a bomb threat to a school building or to any premises at which a school activity is occurring at the time of the threat; or
• Making an articulated or verbalized threat, including a hit list, threatening manifesto, or social media post, that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the student poses a serious threat.

Superintendents will be required to develop conditions for the student’s reinstatement, which must include an assessment performed by psychiatrist or licensed psychologist who is agreed upon by both the district superintendent and the student’s parent.

At the end of the expulsion period, students must be assessed by a superintendent and meet all of the conditions for reinstatement. If a student fails to meet the conditions, then a superintendent may extend a student’s expulsion by no more than 90 days prior to another reassessment. There is no limit on the number of times a superintendent may extend an expulsion.

The legislation will also establish multidisciplinary expulsion teams to be created by policy approved by local school boards to help superintendents make reinstatement decisions.

House Bill 206 will go into effect in 90 days.