Brief⁽¹⁾

S.B. 571 amends the Kansas School Safety and Security Act to require administrators who come into possession of information about students with a history of dangerous behavior to inform educators of the following:

• the identity and dangerous propensities of any student who has been expelled for conduct which endangers the safety of others;



• the identity and dangerous propensities of any student who has been expelled for commission of felony type offenses;



• the identity and dangerous propensities of any student who has been expelled for possession of weapons;



• the identity and dangerous propensities of any student who has been adjudged to be a juvenile offender and whose offense, if committed by an adult, would constitute a felony, except a felony theft offense involving no direct threat to human life; and



• the identity and dangerous propensities of any student who has been tried and convicted as an adult of any felony, except theft involving no direct threat to human life.

The bill also amends the Kansas Code for Care of Children and the Juvenile Offenders Code to permit disclosure of information to educators and educational institutions as required under this Act.

Educator is defined to mean any teacher, other professional, or paraprofessional employee who has exposure to the student with a history of dangerous behavior.

School employees shall not be subject to criminal penalties for failure to make reports required under this Act if they follow school board policies in this regard or if the school board has failed to adopt policies. Finally, school boards and individual members of such boards are granted immunity from liability in any civil action for the actions or omissions of any school administrator pursuant to the requirements of the Kansas School Safety and Security Act.

Background

The bill was supported by the Kansas National Education Association and a number of teachers who expressed concern about teacher safety due to the lack of knowledge and warning about dangerous students in their classes and schools. The bill was opposed as introduced by the Kansas Association of School Boards.

The bill has no fiscal impact on the state.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.