Local school leaders are scrambling to figure out changes to Missouri law coming Jan. 1 that some say could result in students being charged with felonies for bullying or getting into a fight at school.
Starting 2017, third-degree assault and some cases of harassment will become class E felonies. Harassment will be a felony, rather than a misdemeanor, if the victim suffers “emotional distress” from an act committed with that purpose.
Missouri considers harassment to a form of school bullying, and harassment is among the offenses school districts are technically required to report to local law enforcement.
The changes stem from legislation passed in 2014 that also increases maximum fines for felonies and misdemeanors and creates a fourth degree of assault. The changes do not mention schools, and it’s unclear how schools and law enforcement will interpret them.
At least two area school districts have already interpreted that definition to mean that any student, no matter their age, who gets in a fight can be charged with a felony.
Both districts issued dramatically worded messages that warn families their children can be charged with felonies for fighting.
Many school districts haven’t indicated that they will change how they report offenses to police. State law requires school districts to report more than two dozen kinds of criminal acts to police if committed on school property, on a school bus or at a school function, including drug possession, possession of a weapon, harassment and assault in the first, second and third degrees.
But many districts handle incidents such as school fights on their own, using discipline and anti-bullying policies. Some also have agreements with police that outline factors to consider before reporting third-degree assault, such as the age and maturity of the students involved, how intentional a student’s act was and whether an act was done in self-defense.
Sixty-six drivers actively employed by Durham School Services across Shelby County Schools had to retake their commercial driver’s license test over winter break after the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security suspended operation of Private First Class Driving Academy.
A spokeswoman with the state said the driving academy was an approved vendor for issuing school bus licenses on the condition that they hire a tester qualified to test school bus drivers, but that they had not done so.
“We don’t plan to have a disruption to our route schedule when school starts up again,” said Durham spokeswoman Molly Hart, who reported that a total of 71 Durham drivers are affected. She added that five of those are not actively driving.
The state notified Durham of the problem last week, she said. Retesting will last a few weeks.
All school districts in Shelby County and several others across the state contract with Durham for school transportation services.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has contracted the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) to update its latest analysis to include data on motorcoach fires that occurred from 2009–2013.
The FMCSA also asked for an evaluation of school bus fires, expanded on the assessment of the effectiveness of automatic fire detection and suppression systems and identified fires caused by replacement of a diesel engine or automatic purging of diesel particulate filters, all contingent on the availability of applicable data.
The published Volpe report sought to update and expand upon the 2009 Motorcoach Fire Safety Analysis by gathering and analyzing information regarding the causes, frequency and severity of motorcoach and school bus fires; and recommending ways to prevent or reduce the severity of these incidents, especially through improving the effectiveness of vehicle inspection practices.
Bus fire safety encompasses many aspects of design, operation, maintenance, evacuation and even first responders. All have a critical role in establishing effective standards and best practices but are typically the responsibility of different stakeholders in the development process.
A bus driver for Swanson Elementary School in Wisconsin was arrested after authorities said she was driving under the influence and carrying a concealed weapon while transporting elementary children to school.
On Dec. 24, police were contacted that a school bus driver was driving erratically, and was late dropping off students at the school.
According to the Brookfield Police Department, police officers responded to the area of the school and located the suspected bus driver, just after dropping off students at the school, determining that on top of the bus driver being impaired, she was also carrying a concealed handgun.
She was taken into custody and charged with the following: operating under the influence, operating without proper commercial license endorsements, carrying a concealed firearm and endangering safety by possession of a dangerous weapon while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm in a gun-free school zone.
