House Bill 1717

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.







    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1717

        By Representative Detert






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to education; creating "The

  3         Student Services Act for the Prevention of

  4         Violence in Education"; creating a pilot

  5         project in specified counties to enable school

  6         districts in those counties to provide students

  7         with skills in conflict resolution, anger

  8         management, and related subjects; providing

  9         legislative intent; providing purpose;

10         providing for funding; providing an effective

11         date.

12

13         WHEREAS, there is an increasing amount of violence in

14  our schools, nationally and in Florida, which threatens our

15  children's fundamental sense of safety in schools and

16  psychological well-being and jeopardizes their ability to

17  fulfill their potential, and

18         WHEREAS, parents have traditionally been confident of

19  the safety of their children at school, they now fear for

20  their children's well-being in school, and

21         WHEREAS, teachers are increasingly distracted from

22  their basic teaching duties by disruptive and violent

23  incidents, and

24         WHEREAS, research has demonstrated that students learn

25  best from direct teaching provided in a safe, low stress

26  environment, and

27         WHEREAS, external controls such as metal detectors and

28  additional security forces are only partially effective in

29  making schools safer, and

30

31

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1717

    724-104-99






  1         WHEREAS, internal controls such as anger management,

  2  conflict resolution skills, good self esteem and social skills

  3  result in more positive student behaviors, and

  4         WHEREAS, student services personnel possess the

  5  knowledge, training, experience, and credentials necessary to

  6  reduce school violence and improve student outcomes

  7  significantly, NOW, THEREFORE,

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

10

11         Section 1.  This act may be cited as "The Student

12  Services Act for the Prevention of Violence in Education."

13         Section 2.  There is created a 5-year pilot program in

14  Sarasota, St. Johns, Broward, Okaloosa, Lake, and Duval

15  counties to enable school districts in those counties to

16  provide students with skills in conflict resolution, anger

17  management, building effective interpersonal relationships,

18  and behavioral self-controls such as impulse control,

19  self-monitoring, and internal achievement motivation. These

20  skills are essential to reducing disruptive and dangerous

21  behavior in the classroom and for increasing academic

22  performance.

23         Section 3.  (1)  The Legislature finds that there have

24  been many recent changes in society, including loss of the

25  traditional family structure, increasing job and other

26  pressures on parents, lack of respect for authority, as well

27  as alcohol and drug abuse, resulting in increased needs of the

28  state's youth.

29         (2)  The Legislature further finds that school

30  counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers

31  serving in our schools are fully occupied with necessary and

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1717

    724-104-99






  1  important mandated duties such as career counseling, truancy

  2  followup, and testing for special class placement. There is an

  3  insufficient number of student-services personnel to implement

  4  research-based initiatives to reduce violence, enhance school

  5  safety, and improve student performance.

  6         Section 4.  The purpose of this act is to allocate

  7  incentive funding to school districts to provide adequate

  8  student-services personnel to:

  9         (1)  Provide students with skills to find positive

10  solutions to conflict; teach them to accept more personal

11  responsibility; enable them to stay more on task; provide them

12  with the skills necessary to interact positively with peers

13  and those in authority; help them deal with violent peers when

14  they encounter them; and improve their use of critical

15  thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills.

16         (2)  Reduce disciplinary referrals significantly as

17  well as the number of suspensions and expulsions.

18         (3)  Increase the amount of time teachers can focus on

19  teaching rather than on managing disruptive and dangerous

20  students as well as promote consistency in the application of

21  disciplinary strategies by school staff.

22         (4)  Increase the confidence of parents and communities

23  that schools are safe and effective places for learning.

24         Section 5.  From funds appropriated in the General

25  Appropriations Act for this purpose, the Commissioner of

26  Education shall allocate an incentive award for each

27  participating school district in an amount equal to 5 percent

28  of the district's 1998-1999 salary and benefits expenditure

29  for social workers, psychologists, and guidance counselors.

30

31

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1717

    724-104-99






  1         Section 6.  The effectiveness of this act shall be

  2  measured by the core elements of the state school report card

  3  as evidenced by:

  4         (1)  Reduced referrals to the school office;

  5         (2)  Reduced truancy;

  6         (3)  Fewer in-school and out-of-school suspensions;

  7         (4)  Fewer drug related incidents;

  8         (5)  Reduced weapon-related offenses;

  9         (6)  Reduced incidents of violence;

10         (7)  Increased student academic performance; and

11         (8)  Increased parent and school staff satisfaction.

12         Section 7.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

13

14            *****************************************

15                          SENATE SUMMARY

16    Creates "The Student Services Act for the Prevention of
      Violence in Education." Creates a pilot project in
17    specified counties to enable school districts in those
      counties to provide students with skills in conflict
18    resolution, anger management, and related subjects.
      Provides legislative intent and purpose. Provides for
19    funding.

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  4