Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/11/2001 08:07 AM House EDU
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 85-AGGRAVATING FACTORS IN SENTENCING CHAIR BUNDE announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 85, "An Act relating to conduct directed at a school employee as an aggravating factor for criminal sentencing purposes." Number 1500 REPRESENTATIVE JOHN COGHILL, Alaska State Legislature, came forth as sponsor of HB 85. He stated that HB 85 brings an aggravating factor to violence against a person who is a school employee. He said, unfortunately, violence has not waned, and this shows employees that they are being supported. He said he doesn't anticipate that this is going to be used a lot; however, there are many [students] in the schools who are not well disciplined. He noted that NEA (National Education Association) came to him with the idea. He remarked: One of the things that is of particular interest to me is that many of the things that we do here in this education committee and the HES Committee [Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee] is pass a lot of issues that kind of land in the teacher's lap. I'm always interested in how to make life a little better for the teachers, for those who work within the school building, but I think especially in the classroom. A lot of our issues, just like the special education or the gifted and talented, end up right in the classroom, and we have quite a mix of issues. ... Teachers then find themselves in the awkward position of not only being managers of time and the much paper work we give them to do, but of students who are not well disciplined. I think HB 85 backs that up a little bit - gives them some confidence that we're going to do that. CHAIR BUNDE shared that a parent, who was a "giant of a man," had visited someone in a local school and said, "I've been to jail and I'm not afraid of going back. Now let's talk about my son's grades." He stated that it isn't just bullies that are in the classroom on a regular basis; they may come in all kinds of shapes and forms. He referred to Representative Coghill's comment that he doesn't anticipate using this a lot and asked at what point any assault becomes a felony. Number 1061 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER responded that [it depends on] the degree of actual or potential physical danger and injury. CHAIR BUNDE asked if this would be used only when the assault was a felony or to raise the assault to a felony. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL replied that this is under the felony assault issue. CHAIR BUNDE stated that pushing and shoving probably would not be included, but threatening with a baseball bat would be. He said that if a person is in a felony situation, this would probably not be used a great deal because it is already a felony charge. But the notion, at least for young people, that this might increase the potential of a felony charge may be a deterrent. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL stated that once a person gets into a school building and a felony occurs, this "ups" the limit. Judges will be given discretionary power to say, "There's an aggravator here, and we'll use it to the fullest extent." Number 1735 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked about a case in which a defendant knowingly directs the conduct. For instance, a father who is irritated with someone in the school district, whom his child comes in contact with, rants and raves at home about how [the school worker] ought to be "horsewhipped," and then the child goes into the school and makes some sort of a threat but claims that his father directed him. The parent may not have knowingly directed the child to go threaten [the person], but [the father's] conduct resulted in that. Representative Green asked if that is stretching too far. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER responded that he doesn't think that an intermediary between the threat and the victim would constitute this. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL stated that [the bill] is kept within the exercise of official duties, so it wouldn't be something that happens as a course of activity [outside of the school]. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN remarked that he was just concerned about some liberal judge deciding that there was some tie [between the threat and the victim]. Number 1848 RICHARD KRONBERG, President, National Education Association- Alaska (NEA-Alaska), came forth and stated: It is always tragic when we have violence in our communities, but it's especially problematic when that violence is brought into schools. We don't view HB 85 as a silver bullet that's going to end that violence. It's one more tool that can be in the tool kit for schools and communities to deal with the issue of violence. We brought it to Representative Coghill as a result of actions by our delegate assembly asking us to do this. And we appreciate not just the introducing [of] the legislation, but the words that the Representative just used, as one way for all of us to [support] those [folks] in the schools who are on the front lines making sure that our kids have every opportunity to succeed. CHAIR BUNDE asked Mr. Kronberg if [NEA-Alaska] provides information regarding violence in schools. MR. KRONBERG responded that NEA-Alaska has committed significant resources to dealing with the issues of violence, and that prepared materials are distributed to members and other folks in the community that outline ways to deal with the issue. He added that, personally, he doesn't think there is such a thing as school violence; there is violence in the community that comes in to schools. Therefore, schools by themselves can't solve the problems of violence in the community but can be part of the solution. He noted that [NEA-Alaska], in conjunction with [the Department of Education and Early Development], runs workshops and training sessions on this issue. He added that [NEA-Alaska] thanks the legislature for actions that have already been taken, such as Representative Dyson's bill, which requires a reporting of violence and has caused districts to move forward and develop plans. Number 1988 CHAIR BUNDE, in regard to Representative Dyson's bill, asked what the incident rate in Alaska is now. MR. KRONBERG answered that he does not have the data yet. He said he thinks the reporting requirements are going to "kick in" pretty soon and [the legislature] should get the data relatively soon in order to make an assessment. CHAIR BUNDE asked if [that data] would include the "group fight club" that took place at Service High School. MR. KRONBERG responded that he does not know. He stated that he imagines that since the Anchorage School District treated that as an incident that began in school, it would probably be reported. Number 2070 REPRESENTATIVE GREEN remarked that he was very interested in Mr. Kronberg's statement, "There isn't violence in the schools; there's violence in the community that's brought into the school." He stated: We get these interviews back from violence like [at] Columbine and other schools where there's shootings, and invariably they say, "Well, John was really acting strange for the last week and then on Thursday he came in and blasted." REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked Mr. Kronberg if he feels there is anything that the schools either should or can do in a situation like that. He said that wasn't "violence in the community" because few people knew he was going to do that. MR. KRONBERG replied that he thinks one of the things that is dealt with in the documents [provided in the committee member's packets] is how personnel can clearly identify students who are troubled and have the potential to engage in those sorts of activities. He stated that school personnel need training to be able to do that and they need the resources. He added that one piece of training he thinks is needed is for people not to just ignore it. It is necessary to be able to identify the difference between having a bad day and being ready to "break." Number 2147 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER made a motion to move HB 85 from committee with individual recommendations and the attached zero fiscal note. There being no objection, HB 85 moved from the House Special Committee on Education.
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