Governor Gray Davis and the California legislature were considering funding and legislation directed at improving school safety last May. Proposals ranged from funding additional counselors, to assigning local police directly to schools, to providing funds for improved school safety equipment, such as metal detectors.
Up-to-date information on California lawmakers' proposals and pending legislation is available at www.ca.gov.
By state law, every public school in California is currently required to: have a comprehensive school safety plan; follow state "zero tolerance" laws that require expulsion for students who bring weapons to school or threaten the safety of students or staff in other ways; and notify local police when students commit certain offenses, including having weapons at school.
The following is a list of resources to help parents, children and educators address questions about school violence:
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice, a school violence site that features advice and a chat room, www.air.org/cecp.
Partnerships Against Violence Network, an online search and retrieval system with a printed directory of 200 programs, pavnet.org.
- Courtesy of EdSource