Sec. 6. 26 MRSA §832, sub-§2, as reallocated by PL 1983, c. 583, §15, is amended to read:

2. Employer. "Employer" means a person who has one or more employees. Employer "Employer" includes an agent of an employer and the State, or a political subdivision of the State. "Employer" also means all schools and local education agencies.

Sec. 7. 26 MRSA §833, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 782, §4, is amended to read:

B. The employee, acting in good faith, or a person acting on behalf of the employee, reports to the employer or a public body, orally or in writing, what the employee has reasonable cause to believe is a condition or practice that would put at risk the health or safety of that employee or any other individual.__The protection from discrimination provided in this section specifically includes school personnel who report safety concerns to school officials with regard to a violent or disruptive student;

Sec. 8. Implementation of student behavior standards. The Commissioner of Education shall develop standards for responsible and ethical student behavior under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 254, subsection 11 for implementation by school administrative units beginning in school year 2000-2001. The commissioner shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by January 15, 2000 on the status of the development of the standards.

SUMMARY

This bill implements the following recommendations of the Commission to Study Providing Educators with More Authority to Remove Violent Students from Educational Settings. It:

1. Requires the Commissioner of Education to develop statewide standards of responsible and ethical student behavior;

2. Requires local school boards to adopt a student code of conduct for their students, develop a response plan for violent or potentially violent situations in each of its schools and adopt a policy that authorizes a teacher to send a student from a classroom to the principal's office and a school bus driver to recommend the revocation of a student's privilege of riding on a school bus;