Present law authorizes a principal, principal-teacher, or assistant principal of any public school in this state to suspend a pupil from attendance at the school, including its sponsored activities, or from riding a school bus, for good and sufficient reasons.
This bill adds to the present law by requiring a principal, principal-teacher, or assistant principal of a public school in this state, including public charter schools, to suspend a student who commits an assault against an employee of the LEA or the public charter school in which the student is enrolled from attendance at school for the period of time specified by the principal, principal-teacher, or assistant principal, and from attendance at all school-sponsored events for no less than one calendar year, unless modified by the director of schools or the director of the public charter school.
This bill requires each LEA or public charter school to advise an LEA or public charter school employee who is assaulted by a student of the employee's rights as a result of the assault, including, but not limited to, the employee's right to file a report with the appropriate law enforcement agency and judicial authorities.
This bill provides that if a student is suspended for committing an assault against an employee of the student's LEA or public charter school and attends a school-sponsored event during the period of the student's suspension, then the LEA or public charter school must report the violation as trespassing, and the designated representative for the LEA or public charter school must notify the appropriate law enforcement agency and request the removal of the student from the school-sponsored event.
This bill requires each LEA and public charter school to support and assist an employee who is assaulted by a student in prosecuting the student who committed the assault, and to encourage the prosecuting attorney to request that the court prohibit the defendant from attending school-sponsored events for a time the court deems appropriate as a part of the sentence for the offense.
ON APRIL 4, 2024, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2472, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 clarifies that, for purposes of the provision relative to suspension of a student who commits an assault against an employee of the LEA or the public charter school, "assault" means the act of a person who (i) intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; (ii) intentionally or knowingly causes another to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury; or (iii) intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremely offensive or provocative.
ON APRIL 4, 2004, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 2472 FOR SENATE BILL 2682, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2472, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to clarify, for purposes of the bill, "assault" means the act of a person who (i) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; (ii) intentionally or knowingly causes another to reasonably fear imminent bodily injury; or (iii) intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremely offensive or provocative.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-6-3401