72-6143. (a) If a school employee has information that a pupil is a pupil to whom the provisions of this subsection apply, the school employee shall report such information and identify the pupil to the superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools shall investigate the matter and, upon determining that the identified pupil is a pupil to whom the provisions of this subsection apply, shall provide the reported information and identify the pupil to all school employees who are directly involved or likely to be directly involved in teaching or providing other school related services to the pupil. The provisions of this subsection apply to:
(1) Any pupil who has been expelled for the reason provided by K.S.A. 72-6114(c), and amendments thereto, for conduct which endangers the safety of others;
(2) any pupil who has been expelled for the reason provided by K.S.A. 72-6114(d), and amendments thereto;
(3) any pupil who has been expelled under a policy adopted pursuant to K.S.A. 72-6132, and amendments thereto;
(4) any pupil who has been adjudged to be a juvenile offender and whose offense, if committed by an adult, would constitute a felony under the laws of Kansas or the state where the offense was committed, except any pupil adjudicated as a juvenile offender for a felony theft offense involving no direct threat to human life; and
(5) any pupil who has been tried and convicted as an adult of any felony, except any pupil convicted of a felony theft crime involving no direct threat to human life.
A school employee and the superintendent of schools shall not be required to report information concerning a pupil specified in this subsection if the expulsion, adjudication as a juvenile offender or conviction of a felony occurred more than 365 days prior to the school employee's report to the superintendent of schools.
(b) Each board of education shall adopt a policy that includes:
(1) A requirement that an immediate report be made to the appropriate state or local law enforcement agency by or on behalf of any school employee who knows or has reason to believe that an act has been committed at school, on school property, or at a school supervised activity and that the act involved conduct which constitutes the commission of a felony or misdemeanor or which involves the possession, use or disposal of explosives, firearms or other weapons, provided that the report would not violate the terms of the memorandum of understanding approved by the school employee's school district pursuant to subsection (i); and
(2) the procedures for making such a report.
(c) School employees shall not be subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 72-6144(b), and amendments thereto, if:
(1) They follow the procedures from a policy adopted pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b); or
(2) their board of education fails to adopt such policy.
(d) Each board of education shall annually compile and report to the state board of education at least the following information relating to school safety and security: The types and frequency of criminal acts that are required to be reported pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b), arrests and referrals to law enforcement or juvenile intake and assessment services made in connection to the criminal act, disaggregated by occurrences at school, on school property and at school supervised activities. The data must include an analysis according to race, gender and any other relevant demographic information. The report shall be incorporated into and become part of the current report required under the quality performance accreditation system.
(e) Each board of education shall make available to pupils and their parents, to school employees and, upon request, to others, district policies and reports concerning school safety and security, except that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to reports made by a superintendent of schools and school employees pursuant to subsection (a).
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed or operate in any manner so as to prevent any school employee from reporting criminal acts to school officials and to appropriate state and local law enforcement agencies.
(g) The state board of education shall extract the information relating to school safety and security from the quality performance accreditation report and transmit the information to the governor, the legislature, the attorney general, the secretary of health and environment, the secretary for children and families and the commissioner of juvenile justice.
(h) No board of education, member of any such board, superintendent of schools or school employee shall be liable for damages in a civil action resulting from a person's good faith acts or omissions in complying with the requirements or provisions of the Kansas school safety and security act.
(i) The state board of education shall require that the superintendent of schools in each school district or the superintendent's designee develop, approve and submit to the state board of education a memorandum of understanding developed in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, the courts and the district and county attorneys, establishing clear guidelines for how and when school-based behaviors are referred to law enforcement or the juvenile justice system with the goal of reducing such referrals and protecting public safety. The state board of education shall provide a report annually to the department of corrections and to the office of judicial administration compiling school district compliance and summarizing the content of each memorandum of understanding.
History: L. 1995, ch. 123, § 3; L. 1996, ch. 87, § 2; L. 1998, ch. 171, § 4; L. 1999, ch. 116, § 47; L. 2014, ch. 115, § 297; L. 2016, ch. 46, § 58; July 1, 2017.
Source or Prior Law:
Law Review and Bar Journal References:
"Students, discipline and disabilities," Carol Hall and Jonathan Paretsky, 68 J.K.B.A. No. 6, 44 (1999).
Attorney General's Opinions:
Unified school districts; reports of criminal acts to law enforcement agencies. 1998-59.