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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5123 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 5123

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 13, 2000

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
To require the Secretary of Education to provide notification to States 
 and State educational agencies regarding the availability of certain 
       administrative funds to establish school safety hotlines.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) an estimated 255,000 violent incidents occurred in 1999 
        on school property, at an official school function, or while 
        traveling to and from school;
            (2) for the complete school year July 1, 1997, through June 
        30, 1998, there were 58 school-associated violent deaths that 
        resulted from 46 incidents; 46 of these violent deaths were 
        homicides, 11 were suicides, and one teenager was killed by a 
        law enforcement officer in the course of duty;
            (3) although fewer school-associated violent deaths have 
        occurred in recent years, the total number of multiple victim 
        homicide events has increased;
            (4) in 1997, 5 percent of all 12th graders reported that 
        they had been purposefully injured, while they were at school, 
        with a weapon such as a knife, gun, or club during the prior 12 
        months, and 14 percent reported that they had been injured on 
        purpose without a weapon;
            (5) on average, each year from 1993 to 1997, there were 
        131,400 violent crimes against teachers at schools, as reported 
        by teachers from both public and private schools, which 
        translates into a rate of 31 violent crimes for every 1,000 
        teachers;
            (6) tools should be created for, and provided to, students, 
        teachers, parents, and administrators across the country so 
        that they have the ability to provide the information necessary 
        to law enforcement authorities to take action before other 
        tragedies occur; and
            (7) school safety hotlines allow students, parents, and 
        school personnel the opportunity to report threats of school 
        violence to law enforcement authorities, thus reducing 
        incidents of youth violence.

SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Education shall provide written notification to the 
States and State educational agencies of the ability of States or State 
educational agencies, as appropriate, to use State administrative funds 
provided under title IV and title VI of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 to implement programs related to the 
establishment and operation of a toll-free telephone hotline that 
students, parents, and school personnel use to report suspicious, 
violent, or threatening behavior related to schools or school functions 
to law enforcement authorities.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 12, 2000.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.
```