Texas Teens Cover - Senate

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY JANUARY 2001
Chapter 7
Targeting School Violence
During the 1997-1998 school year, there were over 63,000 assaults in Texas public
schools, an increase of 27 percent from the previous year. In addition, there were
over 8,000 weapons confiscated, including 576 firearms, a slight decrease from
the previous year. Five counties, Bexar, Dallas, El Paso, Harris, and Tarrant,
accounted for a large portion of the crime in Texas schools. These five counties
alone account for 26,647 of the assaults in Texas schools and 5,847 of the weapons
confiscated, or 42.3 percent and 72.9 percent respectively.
Policy Implication: Research school violence plans implemented around the nation and
those recommended by the federal government and national organizations.
In the wake of school violence across the nation, many states and school districts
have started programs to address the potential of violence before it starts. In
1999, the Texas Education Code was amended to require school campuses to
develop goals and methods for violence prevention and intervention. The
chapter discusses several model programs, identified as such in the 1999 Annual
Report on School Safety published by the U.S. Department of Education and the
U.S. Department of Justice. These model programs are well designed, have
demonstrated effectiveness, and can be implemented as a part of a
comprehensive school safety plan.
Policy Implication: Relay information on school violence to the schools.
The amount of information available on these topics is staggering. This
information should be relayed to schools in an effective manner to aid them in
developing a school violence prevention and intervention plan. The legislature
could encourage schools to have school violence drills, much like fire drills,
where students are taught how to react in the unfortunate event that violence
visits their school.
Policy Implication: Fully implement and enforce the Safe Schools Act.
In an effort to protect students from violence, the 74 th Legislature enacted the
Safe Schools Act (act) in 1995. The act requires a student to be removed from
class and placed in an alternative education program if the student engages in
conduct punishable as a felony. The student is also required to be removed from
class and placed in an alternative education program if the student, while on
school property or attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity,
engages in certain unacceptable behavior, such as threatening other students or
selling drugs.
The Safe Schools Act requires a student to be expelled from school if, on school
property or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity, the
student engages in certain serious acts such as using a weapon or committing an
aggravated assault.
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SENATE RESEARCH CENTER
Safe Passages: Texas Teens on the Road to Adulthood - xxii