CARNAHAN EXPLAINS `SAFE SCHOOLS'

Gov. Mel Carnahan spoke before students at Cape Girardeau Central High School Tuesday to outline proposed legislation intended to reduce crime in Missouri's public schools.

The legislation, called the Safe Schools Initiative, includes provisions to make all assaults on school employees felonies, create alternate schools for disruptive students, expand drug-free school zones, allow for greater flow of information concerning student misbehavior and provide grant money to make schools safer.

"It is a tragic fact that, all over this country and in many parts of Missouri, students are in peril every day," Carnahan said. "Many of our classrooms have been placed in the crossfire. Substance abuse, guns, gangs and violence have become commonplace on school grounds and even right in our classrooms."

Carnahan will ask the General Assembly to pass the Safe Schools Initiative, which consists of 10 key components, when it convenes Jan. 3. The Missouri State Teachers Association has endorsed the legislation.

The governor, who spoke to students in an advanced placement American government class, said that in 1993 homicide was the leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds in Missouri.

He cited statistics which put the number of crimes annually committed in schools nationwide at over three million -- treble the number of crimes committed in the workplace -- and 11 percent of all crime.

"We cannot allow our schools to become combat zones," Carnahan said. "If we are serious about giving our children opportunities to learn and be successful in life, we must be able to protect them from danger and provide them with a safe and secure school environment."

A key provision would make it a felony to assault any school employee, including contract employees such as bus drivers, and students. Felony penalties would apply to acts committed on school grounds or buses and at school-sponsored events off campus. The assault of a teacher by a student at the teacher's home would also be included.

First- and second-degree assault are already felonies, but third-degree assault, normally a misdemeanor, would be upgraded to a felony under Carnahan's proposal. Juveniles who commit such assaults would face mandatory certification hearings to determine whether they should be tried as adults.

Students who chronically and seriously misbehave would be removed from regular classrooms and placed into alternate schools under the proposal. Local districts would be authorized to contract with private, state or non-profit agencies to provide alternative instruction. Such programs are intended to be developed locally.

Carnahan also supports allowing schools to honor suspensions and expulsions of students from other schools. Also, students who are suspended for 10 consecutive days or more would have to attend a conference with their parents, teachers and school officials prior to readmittance.

The legislation would also strengthen language in the Juvenile Crime Bill, which went into effect in August, allowing school officials access to students' juvenile records. Carnahan said new legislation is needed to make it clear to courts and juvenile officials that they can share juvenile records, which for years remained sealed.

The governor also proposes allowing schools to share student disciplinary records with one another.

"Disruptive behavior follows from school to school. I want a record of that disruptive behavior to go with them," Carnahan said.

The remaining provisions would:

-- Expand drug-free zones from 1,000 feet from a school to 2,000 feet. School buses would also be considered drug-fee zones.

-- Instruct the Department of Public Safety to distribute instructional materials on conflict resolution and resisting peer pressure.

-- Provide $6 million in grants to strengthen building security, either through physical improvements such as added lighting or metal detectors or by enlisting the full-time presence of police officers. Funding would come from general revenue.

-- Provide funding for the Missouri Highway Patrol to expand Drug Abuse Resistance Education training and add a gang awareness program for fifth- and sixth-graders.