BILL REQ. #:  H-5162.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/05/08.   

     AN ACT Relating to school safety; amending RCW 9.41.280; adding a new section to chapter 28A.320 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 9.41.280 and 1999 c 167 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It is unlawful for a person to carry onto, or to possess on, public or private elementary or secondary school premises, school-provided transportation, or areas of facilities while being used exclusively by public or private schools:
     (a) Any firearm;
     (b) Any ((other dangerous weapon as defined in RCW 9.41.250)) device designed for suppressing the noise of any firearm;
     (c) Any device commonly known as "nun-chu-ka sticks", consisting of two or more lengths of wood, metal, plastic, or similar substance connected with wire, rope, or other means;
     (d) Any device, commonly known as "throwing stars", which are multi-pointed, metal objects designed to embed upon impact from any aspect; ((or))
     (e) Any air gun, including any air pistol or air rifle, designed to propel a BB, pellet, or other projectile by the discharge of compressed air, carbon dioxide, or other gas;
     (f) A blackjack, slung shot, sand club, billy club, or metal knuckles;
     (g) Any stun gun or other object, instrument, or device that, when applied to a person or animal, is designed to administer an incapacitating electric shock, charge, or impulse, including but not limited to, a projectile stun gun, which projects wired probes that are attached to the device that emit an electrical charge;
     (h) Any explosive or any weapon containing poisonous or injurious gases; or
     (i) Any dirk, dagger, spring blade knife, knife having a blade that is automatically released by a spring mechanism or other mechanical device, or knife having a blade that opens, or falls, or is ejected into position by the force of gravity, or by an outward, downward, or centrifugal thrust or movement.
     (2) It is unlawful for a person on public or private elementary or secondary school premises, school-provided transportation, or areas of facilities while being used exclusively by public or private schools, to possess and use, attempt to use, threaten to use, or intend to use, any object, implement, or instrument that has the capacity to inflict death or substantial bodily harm when the use, attempt, threat, or intent is of a nature likely to inflict death or substantial bodily harm.
     (((2))) (3) Any ((such)) person violating subsection (1) or (2) of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor, except as provided in (a) of this subsection.
     (a) Any person violating subsection (1)(a) of this section is guilty of a class C felony, except that a student who was otherwise legally in possession of an unloaded firearm secured within a locked vehicle, and who possessed the firearm with no intent to use it or threaten to use it, or intent to cause or threaten to cause alarm with it, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
     (b) In addition, if any person is convicted of a violation of subsection (1)(a) of this section, the person shall have his or her concealed pistol license, if any, revoked for a period of three years. Anyone convicted under this subsection is prohibited from applying for a concealed pistol license for a period of three years. The court shall send notice of the revocation to the department of licensing, and the city, town, or county which issued the license.
     (c) Any violation of subsection (1)(a) of this section by elementary or secondary school students constitutes grounds for expulsion from the state's public schools in accordance with RCW 28A.600.420. Any other violation by elementary or secondary school students may constitute grounds for expulsion from the state's public schools in accordance with RCW 28A.600.010. Within one business day of any allegation or indication of a violation of subsection (1)(a) of this section, an appropriate school authority shall promptly notify law enforcement and the student's parent or guardian regarding ((any)) the allegation or indication of such violation. Law enforcement shall forward this notification to the prosecuting attorney.
     (d) Upon the arrest of a person at least twelve years of age and not more than twenty-one years of age for violating subsection (1)(a) of this section, the person shall be detained or confined in a juvenile or adult facility for up to seventy-two hours. The person shall not be released within the seventy-two hours until after the person has been examined and evaluated by the ((county-))designated mental health professional unless the court in its discretion releases the person sooner after a determination regarding probable cause or on probation bond or bail.
     Within twenty-four hours of the arrest, the arresting law enforcement agency shall refer the person to the ((county-))designated mental health professional for examination and evaluation under chapter 71.05 or 71.34 RCW and inform a parent or guardian of the person of the arrest, detention, and examination. The ((county-))designated mental health professional shall examine and evaluate the person subject to the provisions of chapter 71.05 or 71.34 RCW. The examination shall occur at the facility in which the person is detained or confined. If the person has been released on probation, bond, or bail, the examination shall occur wherever is appropriate.
     The ((county-))designated mental health professional may determine whether to refer the person to the ((county-))designated chemical dependency specialist for examination and evaluation in accordance with chapter 70.96A RCW. The ((county-))designated chemical dependency specialist shall examine the person subject to the provisions of chapter 70.96A RCW. The examination shall occur at the facility in which the person is detained or confined. If the person has been released on probation, bond, or bail, the examination shall occur wherever is appropriate.
     Upon completion of any examination by the ((county-))designated mental health professional or the ((county-))designated chemical dependency specialist, the results of the examination shall be sent to the court, and the court shall consider those results in making any determination about the person.
     The ((county-))designated mental health professional and ((county-))designated chemical dependency specialist shall, to the extent permitted by law, notify a parent or guardian of the person that an examination and evaluation has taken place and the results of the examination. Nothing in this subsection prohibits the delivery of additional, appropriate mental health examinations to the person while the person is detained or confined.
     If the ((county-))designated mental health professional determines it is appropriate, the ((county-))designated mental health professional may refer the person to the local regional support network for follow-up services or the department of social and health services or other community providers for other services to the family and individual.
     (((3))) (4) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to:
     (a) Any student or employee of a private military academy when on the property of the academy;
     (b) Any person engaged in military, law enforcement, or school district security activities;
     (c) Any person who is involved in a convention, showing, demonstration, lecture, or firearms safety course authorized by school authorities in which the firearms of collectors or instructors are handled or displayed;
     (d) Any person while the person is participating in a firearms or air gun competition approved by the school or school district;
     (e) Any person in possession of a pistol who has been issued a license under RCW 9.41.070, or is exempt from the licensing requirement by RCW 9.41.060, while picking up or dropping off a student;
     (f) Any nonstudent at least eighteen years of age legally in possession of a firearm or ((dangerous)) other weapon specified in subsection (1) of this section that is secured within an attended vehicle or concealed from view within a locked unattended vehicle while conducting legitimate business at the school;
     (g) Any nonstudent at least eighteen years of age who is in lawful possession of an unloaded firearm, secured in a vehicle while conducting legitimate business at the school; or
     (h) Any law enforcement officer of the federal, state, or local government agency.
     (((4))) (5) Subsection((s)) (1)(c) and (d) of this section ((do)) does not apply to any person who possesses nun-chu-ka sticks, throwing stars, or other dangerous weapons to be used in martial arts classes authorized to be conducted on the school premises.
     (((5))) (6) Except as provided in subsection (((3))) (4)(b), (c), (((f),)) and (h) of this section, firearms are not permitted in a public or private school building.
     (((6))) (7) "GUN-FREE ZONE" signs shall be posted around school facilities giving warning of the prohibition of the possession of firearms on school grounds.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall convene a multistakeholder school threat assessment work group to develop, by September 1, 2009, a model policy and programmatic guidance on threat assessment and threat management in schools. The model policy's purpose is to provide school personnel and community safety agencies with best practice policies and procedures that should be followed to address assessment and intervention methods associated with a student's act or threat of violence or harm, or a student's use, attempted use, threatened use, or intent to use a weapon on school grounds. The model policy shall:
     (a) Be consistent with the elements of RCW 28A.320.128 and the office of the superintendent of public instruction's model policy addressing requirements for notification of threats of violence or harm adopted under RCW 28A.320.128;
     (b) Address the definition of threat assessment in the context of a student's act or threat of violence or harm, or a student's use, attempted use, threatened use, or intent to use a weapon on school grounds;
     (c) Define the range of best practice interventions that should be pursued if a student involved in an act or threat of violence or harm to self, others, or property, or the use, attempted use, threatened use, or intent to use a weapon on school grounds, is either released to the community while expelled or suspended, or returned to the school environment; and
     (d) Address the purpose of a school threat assessment, guidelines for school threat management plans, governance of the threat assessment process, including the responsibilities of the convening agency, the boundaries of information shared between multiple agencies, membership of threat assessment committees, and liability issues for those involved in the process.
     (2) The multistakeholder school threat assessment work group should consist of representatives from the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the association of Washington school principals, the Washington association of school administrators, the Washington school directors association, the Washington state safe school advisory committee, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs, the Washington state emergency management division, school employee unions, school risk managers, special education professionals, the mental health division of the department of social and health services, the juvenile court administrators association, and other appropriate community safety agencies and organizations as determined by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (3) By September 1, 2010, the office of the superintendent of public instruction will facilitate quarterly trainings to school districts on the implementation of the model school threat assessment policy and programmatic guidance to provide school personnel and community safety agencies with the recommended best practice policies and procedures. This training will address the assessment and intervention methods associated with a student's act or threat of violence or harm, or a student's use, attempted use, threatened use, or intent to use a weapon on school grounds.
     (4) By September 1, 2011, each school district board of directors shall adopt a policy on threat assessment and threat management in schools that addresses how schools will provide for the safety of all individuals involved in or affected by threats of violence or harm, or the use, attempted use, threatened use, or intent to use a firearm or other weapon prohibited under RCW 9.41.280. The school district's threat assessment and threat management policy must address the issues identified in subsection (1) of this section. In developing its policy on threat assessment and threat management, the school district shall consider the model policy and guidance on threat assessment and threat management developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction under this section.