II

Calendar No. 5

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 44

To amend the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 to require a local educational

agency that receives funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to expel a student determined to be in possession

of an illegal drug, or illegal drug paraphernalia, on school property,

in addition to expelling a student determined to be in possession of

a gun, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. HELMS introduced the following bill; which was read the first time

JANUARY 20, 1999

Read the second time and placed on the calendar

A BILL

To amend the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 to require

a local educational agency that receives funds under the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to

expel a student determined to be in possession of an

illegal drug, or illegal drug paraphernalia, on school

property, in addition to expelling a student determined

to be in possession of a gun, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

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1 SECTION 1. SAFE SCHOOLS.

2 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Part F of title XIV of the Ele3 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

4 8921 et seq.) is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘PART F—ILLEGAL DRUG AND GUN POSSESSION

6 ‘‘SEC. 14601. DRUG-FREE AND GUN-FREE REQUIREMENTS.

7 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

8 ‘Safe Schools Act of 1999’.

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State receiving Fed11 eral funds under this Act shall have in effect a State

12 law requiring local educational agencies to expel

13 from school for a period of not less than 1 year a

14 student who is determined—

15 ‘‘(A) to be in possession of an illegal drug,

16 or illegal drug paraphernalia, on school prop17 erty under the jurisdiction of, or on a vehicle

18 operated by an employee or agent of, a local

19 educational agency in that State; or

20 ‘‘(B) to have brought a firearm to a school

21 under the jurisdiction of a local educational

22 agency in that State,

23 except that the State law shall allow the chief ad24 ministering officer of the local educational agency to

25 modify the expulsion requirement for a student on a

26 case-by-case basis.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title

2 shall be construed to prevent a State from allowing

3 a local educational agency that has expelled a stu4 dent from the student’s regular school setting from

5 providing educational services to the student in an

6 alternative setting.

7 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—The provisions of this section

8 shall be construed in a manner consistent with the Individ9 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et

10 seq.).

11 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—Each local educational agency

12 requesting assistance from a State educational agency

13 that is to be provided from funds made available to the

14 State under this Act shall provide to the State, in the ap15 plication requesting assistance—

16 ‘‘(1) an assurance that the local educational

17 agency is in compliance with the State law required

18 by subsection (b); and

19 ‘‘(2) a description of the circumstances sur20 rounding any expulsions imposed under the State

21 law required by subsection (b), including—

22 ‘‘(A) the name of the school concerned;

23 ‘‘(B) the number of students expelled from

24 the school; and
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1 ‘‘(C) the type of illegal drugs, illegal drug

2 paraphernalia, or firearms concerned.

3 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Each State shall re4 port the information described in subsection (d) to the

5 Secretary on an annual basis.

6 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than two

7 years after the date of enactment of the Safe Schools Act

8 of 1999, the Secretary shall report to Congress with re9 spect to any State that is not in compliance with the re10 quirements of this part.

11 ‘‘SEC. 14602. POLICY REGARDING CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYS12 TEM REFERRAL.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No funds shall be made available

14 under this Act to any local educational agency unless the

15 agency has a policy requiring referral, to the criminal jus16 tice or juvenile delinquency system, of any student who

17 is in possession of an illegal drug, or illegal drug para18 phernalia, on school property under the jurisdiction of, or

19 on a vehicle operated by an employee or agent of, the

20 agency, or who brings a firearm to a school under the ju21 risdiction of the agency.

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section,

23 the term ‘school’ has the meaning given the term in sec24 tion 921(a) of title 18, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 14603. DATA AND POLICY DISSEMINATION UNDER

2 IDEA.

3 ‘‘The Secretary shall—

4 ‘‘(1) widely disseminate the policy of the De5 partment, in effect on the date of enactment of the

6 Safe Schools Act of 1999, with respect to disciplin7 ing children with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(2) collect data on the incidence of children

9 with disabilities (as the term is defined in section

10 602 of the Individuals With Disabilities Education

11 Act (20 U.S.C. 1401)) possessing illegal drugs, or il12 legal drug paraphernalia, on school property under

13 the jurisdiction of, or on a vehicle operated by an

14 employee or agent of, a local educational agency, en15 gaging in life threatening behavior at school, or

16 bringing firearms to schools; and

17 ‘‘(3) not later than 1 year after the date of en18 actment of the Safe Schools Act of 1999, prepare

19 and submit to Congress a report analyzing the

20 strengths and problems with the approaches regard21 ing disciplining children with disabilities.

22 ‘‘SEC. 14604. DEFINITIONS.

23 ‘‘In this part:

24 ‘‘(1) FIREARM.—The term ‘firearm’ has the

25 meaning given the term in section 921(a) of title 18,

26 United States Code.
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1 ‘‘(2) ILLEGAL DRUG.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘illegal

3 drug’ means a controlled substance, as defined

4 in section 102(6) of the Controlled Substances

5 Act (21 U.S.C. 802(6)), the possession of which

6 is unlawful under the Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et

7 seq.) or the Controlled Substances Import and

8 Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951 et seq.).

9 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘illegal drug’

10 does not mean a controlled substance used pur11 suant to a valid prescription or as authorized by

12 law.

13 ‘‘(3) ILLEGAL DRUG PARAPHERNALIA.—The

14 term ‘illegal drug paraphernalia’ means drug para15 phernalia, as defined in section 422(d) of the Con16 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 863(d)), except

17 that the first sentence of section 422(d) of the Act

18 shall be applied by inserting ‘or under the Controlled

19 Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 951

20 et seq.)’ before the period.’’.

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend22 ments made by this Act take effect 6 months after the

23 date of enactment of this Act.

Calendar No. 5

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 44

A BILL

To amend the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 to repossession of a gun, and for other purposes. tion to expelling a student determined to be in drug paraphernalia, on school property, in addi- to be in possession of an illegal drug, or illegal cation Act of 1965 to expel a student determined funds under the Elementary and Secondary Edu- quire a local educational agency that receives

JANUARY 20, 1999

Read the second time and placed on the calendar