Many of those who had authority over school policy in the days after the 1999 Columbine school shootings will tell you they were filled with an overriding need to do something to make sure the tragedy wasn’t repeated.
The resulting zero-tolerance policies and laws were well-intentioned. However, some Colorado legislators have come to believe they’ve caused more harm than good and have led to needless suspensions and expulsions.
That, in a nutshell, is the mindset behind a panel charged with recommending changes to Colorado statutes that get police involved in what should be matters of school discipline.
We think the panel’s goals are laudable, and look forward to seeing what its members produce.
The group will meet through the fall and make suggestions as to how the legislature can empower school authorities to use their experience and common sense in disciplinary situations.
Rep. B.J. Nikkel, R-Loveland, said that in many situations involving students, intent should matter.
The elementary school student who finds a toy gun on the way to school should not be treated like a criminal for bringing it into the classroom, said Nikkel, a sponsor of the 2011 legislation that created the panel.
One element of law that state Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, wants to examine is the definition of a weapon. It may be that those descriptions can be retooled so that the kid who brings a butter knife to school in his sack lunch doesn’t get swept up in zero-tolerance policies, said Newell, also a sponsor of the bill.
To the extent that those definitions are too rigid — something the panel is investigating — we agree with the idea that they ought to be revised or omitted. In the final analysis, it may be that state laws are easier to change than school cultures and policies.
Stan Garnett, the Boulder County district attorney, is a member of the newly appointed school discipline panel who shares this view.
Garnett, who was president of the Boulder Valley School District board at the time of the Columbine shootings, told us the event was “terrifying.”
“You’re willing to do almost anything to prevent that,” he said.
The resulting mindset has been interwoven into school policies and procedures, and it will take a good bit of work to unravel them.
Padres & Jovenes Unidos, a Denver-based advocacy group, estimates nearly 100,000 Colorado students were referred to law enforcement during the last decade, with the majority of those involving cases of minor fights and disorderly conduct.
The need for safe schools is something that most would agree upon. But we hope the school disciplinary panel will present a different road map for getting there that empowers school officials to use common sense in establishing order.
