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In Olympia, lawmakers toe line between violence, rights
OLYMPIA - Washington lawmakers are searching for ways to detain youths who may be on the verge of committing violent acts on school property - but without treading on their constitutional rights. Keeping troubled students in custody long enough to undergo mental health evaluations is a key component of bills filed in response to the deadly outbreak of school violence across the nation. Lawmakers said they also were motivated by requests for help from Washington school officials and police struggling to maintain order in the schoolyards, including Moses Lake authorities who experienced their own tragedy three years ago. "We know we're not going to be able to stop everything. But if we can stop one, it will be worth it," said Rep. Joyce McDonald, a Puyallup Republican who filed two bills after hearing about troubles in her district. Republicans and Democrats have declared school safety a priority issue during the 105-day legislative session scheduled to end in April. Bills filed in both houses seek to identify students suspected of going over the edge, broaden police powers, order criminal background checks for employees of private schools and update school district's emergency plans. Still, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, questioned the necessity of several measures, saying police and school officials already have much of the authority that would be granted under the legislation. "I have a feeling they're way overselling what they are doing," lobbyist Jerry Sheehan said. "They're overreacting by implying they're doing something new. I just don't see it." Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe said the bills close key gaps in the law. She noted that Kip Kinkel, the Oregon teen accused of killing his parents and two classmates in May, might have been stopped, particularly since Kinkel had been expelled for bringing a gun to school a day before the shootings. Calling that a "cry for help," the Bothell Democrat filed a bill that would require police to hold a youth caught with a gun at school in custody for 24 hours. Senate Bill 5214, which would apply to youths between the ages of 10 and 18, also would require the youth to undergo a psychiatric examination and screening for drug and alcohol abuse. "If they bring a gun to school, reason would tell me there's a problem," McAuliffe said. "And usually the problem is not just with the child, but with the family also. They don't know what to do." A pair of House Republicans said McAuliffe is on the right track, but her measure doesn't go far enough. Reps. Bob Sump, R-Republic, and Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, are drafting a measure that would attempt to identify and remove troubled students before they bring guns to school. "We want to see if we can intervene a little sooner," Sheahan said. "We don't feel it's adequate to wait until they bring a gun to school and start shooting people. That's too late." Like McAuliffe's bill, their proposal would require that students arrested for bringing guns to school undergo psychiatric evaluations while in custody. But it also would allow school officials to summon authorities to remove any student if there is "reasonable" cause to believe the person is suffering from a mental disorder and presents a threat to others. Sheahan said it would apply if a student told friends of intentions to get a gun and kill a teacher. No crime has been committed, but the student could pose a danger, he said. The hard part is making sure the measure would not send students involved in horseplay or "something silly" to court, Sheahan said. McAuliffe also filed a measure requiring school districts to update emergency plans to include response to an outbreak of violence, not just natural disasters. A similar measure was filed in the House. She said Moses Lake officials told her that police had no map of the school on Feb. 2, 1996, the day 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis walked into an algebra class and fatally shot the teacher and two classmates. "When they (police) arrived, everyone was running and screaming and pointing. They didn't know where the room was," she said. She also has proposed a bill requiring private schools to do criminal background checks on employees who have regular unsupervised access to students. The state paid for public school employees to undergo such checks a few years ago. Stephen Dinger of the Washington Federation of Independent Schools welcomed her bill, saying shady people who can't get work with public schools might try and find work with private schools, since background checks aren't currently required. But Dinger said the state should pay for it. McAuliffe said that's not likely, given budget constraints. |