Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 11:51 am by Peter Ellis
TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist today signed legislation strengthening Florida’s “zero tolerance” school safety policies. Signed at Jacksonville’s Robert E. Lee High School, Senate Bill 1540 helps ensure an effective learning environment by balancing student safety and fairly addressing student misconduct.
“This legislation maintains Florida’s strict school safety policies while reducing the unintended consequences that have led to the wrongful placement of students in the juvenile justice system,” said Governor Crist. “Florida’s children are one of our most important resources for securing Florida’s future, and we must ensure they have a safe, fair and first-class education.”
Senate Bill 1540 requires school boards to revise their zero-tolerance policies to ensure that students expelled or referred to law enforcement pose a serious threat to school safety, and are not expelled or arrested for petty misconduct. In addition, schools allowing corporal punishment must review their policies publicly at a school board meeting once every three years. The legislation also specifies that zero-tolerance policies must be applied equally to students, regardless of economic status, race and disability.
Senate Bill 1540 is expected to redirect a large number of children away from the juvenile justice system through diversionary alternatives. Research shows that excluding children from school increases the odds of academic failure and dropping out. Moreover, once a child or teenager is involved in the juvenile justice system, the odds of that child or teenager becoming more deeply embedded in the system dramatically increases. During fiscal year 2007-08, 15 percent of referrals to the juvenile justice system were from schools. In addition, more than half of those 21,000 students were first-time offenders, with 69 percent of the school-related referrals qualifying as misdemeanors.
Governor Crist was joined at Jacksonville’s Robert E. Lee High School by bill sponsors Senator Stephen Wise and Representative Jennifer Carroll, and Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Frank Peterman and Department of Education Commissioner Eric Smith. Senate Bill 1540 was passed unanimously in the Florida House and Senate.
