I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 863
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 13, 2003
Mr. VITTER 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Classroom Safety Act 
of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES EDUCATION ACT. 
(a) PLACEMENT
IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL 
SETTING.—Section 615(k) of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (10) as para-
graph (11); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(10) DISCIPLINE
WITH
REGARD
TO
WEAP-
ONS.—
‘‘(A) 
AUTHORITY
OF
SCHOOL
PER-
SONNEL.—Notwithstanding any other provision 
of this Act, school personnel may discipline (in-
cluding expel or suspend) a child with a dis-
ability 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, or 
‘‘(ii) possesses or uses illegal drugs, or 
sells or solicits the sale of a controlled sub-
stance while at a school, on school prem-
ises, or to or at a school function, under 
the jurisdiction of a State or a local edu-
cational agency,
in the same manner in which such personnel 
may discipline a child without a disability. 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 pre-
vent a child with a disability who is disciplined 
pursuant to the authority provided under sub-
paragraph (A) from asserting a defense that 
the carrying or possession of the weapon, or the 
possession of an illegal drug or sale or solicita-
tion of the sale of a controlled substance, was 
unintentional or innocent. 
‘‘(C) FREE
APPROPRIATE
PUBLIC
EDU-
CATION.—
‘‘(i) CEASING
TO
PROVIDE
EDU-
CATION.—Notwithstanding 
section 
612(a)(1)(A), a child expelled or suspended 
under subparagraph (A) shall not be enti-
tled to continue educational services, in-
cluding a free appropriate public edu-
cation, under this title, during the term of 
such expulsion or suspension, if the State 
in which the local educational agency re-
sponsible for providing educational services
to such child does not require a child with-
out a disability to receive educational serv-
ices after being expelled or suspended. 
‘‘(ii) PROVIDING
EDUCATION.—Not-
withstanding clause (i), the local edu-
cational agency responsible for providing 
educational services to a child with a dis-
ability who is expelled or suspended under 
subparagraph (A) may choose to continue 
to provide educational services to such 
child. If the local educational agency so 
chooses to continue to provide the serv-
ices—
‘‘(I) nothing in this title shall re-
quire the local educational agency to 
provide such child with a free appro-
priate public education, or any par-
ticular level of service; and 
‘‘(II) the location where the local 
educational agency provides the serv-
ices shall be left to the discretion of 
the local educational agency. 
‘‘(D) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER REQUIRE-
MENTS.—
‘‘(i) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—No agen-
cy 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 pro-
vided 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 in-
serting before ‘‘to an appropriate interim educational set-
ting’’ the following: ‘‘except as provided in paragraph 
(10),’’.
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