The Committee on Education was called to order at 4:05 p.m., on Monday, May 17, 1999. Chairman Wendell Williams presided in Room 3143 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Guest List. All Exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr. Wendell Williams, Chairman

Mr. Tom Collins, Vice Chairman

Mr. Greg Brower

Mrs. Barbara Cegavske

Mrs. Vonne Chowning

Mrs. Marcia de Braga

Mrs. Ellen Koivisto

Mr. Mark Manendo

Ms. Genie Ohrenschall

Ms. Bonnie Parnell

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

Mrs. Sharron Angle

Mr. Don Gustavson

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

Assemblyman Joseph E. Dini, Jr., District 38

Assemblyman Richard Perkins, District 23

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

OTHERS PRESENT:

Following roll call, Chairman Williams asked for a motion on A.J.R 25.

ASSEMBLYMAN COLLINS MADE A MOTION TO AMEND AND DO PASS.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN OHRENSCHALL SECONDED THE MOTION.

MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

**********

Chairman Williams closed the hearing on A.J.R. 25 and opened the hearing on A.B. 686.

Speaker Joe Dini, representing Assembly District 38, submitted written testimony (Exhibit C). He referred to the recent incidents involving school violence within schools across the nation. He indicated Clark County officials had confiscated 67 guns and 178 knives from students and noted those figures had increased. The bill would establish a commission to create and adopt a State Emergency Response Plan for tragic incidents of school violence. The plan included actions to respond to a tragic event, mechanisms for approving emergency funds, and a strategy to coordinate services at all levels of government including law enforcement support. The plan would require each school district to create and maintain a local emergency response plan to complement the state plan. The commission would be charged with studying and recommending ways to prevent and reduce incidences of violence in schools and communities.

Assemblyman Richard Perkins, representing District 23, noted the importance of educational achievement and the school safety of children. He referred to recent tragic incidents that involved school violence. He addressed the reluctance of parents in sending their children to school and the encouragement needed to make children focus on their grades and not what their classmates planned. He said providing education to Clark County's law enforcement agencies on school district employees in all areas of the state would help prevent those fatal tragedies.

Mrs. de Braga asked if metal detectors would need to be installed to help prevent problems with handguns.

Mr. Perkins thought metal detectors gave a negative impression to the public. He did not know if they would be considered, but stated they should be and thought the commission needed to consider the issue.

Speaker Dini reiterated the prevention of similar future incidents would result in increased safety for children. Counseling would help and the bill would help to develop a plan.

Chairman Williams opined the plan should be kept in place at all times. He stated the safety questions needed to be resolved by the commission and that the job of the legislature was to create the commission.

Mrs. Chowning referred to past incidents that resulted in fatalities among teachers and children. She said the State of Nevada had not experienced tragedies like those of other states, but it would be a matter of time before they occurred in Nevada. She pointed out the measures taken in the past to enhance the safety of the schools. She did not feel there had been enough action taken, but felt A.B. 686 was a proactive statewide approach. She hoped the study would foster recommendations for state legislation.

Mr. Perkins stated the bill would help identify the students who had gotten off-track and let them be more productive people in society.

Frankie Sue Del Papa, Attorney General, submitted written testimony and stated A.B. 686 would be an advantage to school safety and would help to enhance the efforts of the enforcement of school safety (Exhibit E). She explained youth violence had become a community problem that cut across governmental sectors and socio-economic levels. Schools would not be able to eradicate the causes and consequences of violence. If a disturbed child had access to weapons or the ability to access the information to build a bomb, all types of violence could be seen across the community. The school shootings that had so much national attention had all occurred in communities previously immune to those types of incidences.

She explained the attorney generals from 22 states had met and identified barriers to reducing teen violence. Some of those included the students’ fears of retribution for reporting violent behavior, which could lead to a code of silence among children. Antisocial or violent behavior influenced by drug and alcohol use led to impaired judgement, reasoning, and self-control. They had also decided weapons were too accessible.

The conference identified several remedies. First, they wanted to break the code of silence among teens to establish an anonymous way for kids to report potential or violent behavior. They also wanted to establish mandatory teacher notification when a student had been arrested. Several states were proposing a mandatory psychological evaluation of any student who brought a gun to school. Increased parental involvement and accountability and development of strong partnerships between law enforcement, schools, and other agencies would also help end school violence. She mentioned that the Attorney General’s Office and the state’s superintendent of schools provided brochures pertaining to school violence, one of which was included in the earlier mentioned Exhibit E. She said community action also needed to be a part of the program.

Debbie Smith, President of the Nevada Parent Teacher Association (PTA), told the committee about her organization’s state convention, which focused on school violence and school safety. A special roundtable had been conducted and many members wanted to participate in a state-sponsored panel on school violence. She also participated in the attorney general’s town hall meeting. The PTA supported the bill wholeheartedly. Ms. Smith appreciated the makeup of the commission, because it included many community leaders and did not exclude the rural counties. She offered the assistance of the PTA to help disseminate information and participate on the commission.

Ms. Parnell said the new commission should not overlook the PTA as a valuable resource in the community.

Dan Piel, Superintendent of Storey County School District, spoke in favor of the legislation before the committee. He expressed the sentiments made earlier by Chairman Williams. He said his small school district felt the effects of nationwide school violence. Mr. Piel said it was the district’s policy to keep school violence out of the media and to keep it from spreading to other schools.

He further noted that a student in Storey County was recently arrested for compiling a "hit list" of teachers, students, and some parents. The student was undergoing evaluation in a psychiatric hospital. In February, a student had come to a school in his district with a loaded weapon. He was removed from school, but the district was providing accommodations for his education. Mr. Piel warned the committee special education children, if removed from school, must still be educated by the district. Additionally, a parent had fired a gun at their child in his district for not doing well in school. A stabbing had also occurred on school grounds. He reiterated violence was a problem in all the schools in the district. Mr. Piel stated his district had lost a lawsuit in which deadly and dangerous weapons were disputed. He said he would be happy to serve on the commission and advise them of his county’s 14-point plan to deal with student violence.

Ms. Parnell said children who entered school with a weapon were suspended, under current statute. She wanted to know who made the determination the child in the first scenario should be detained and put under observation.

Mr. Piel responded his administrative staff had made the decision, and they had worked with the sheriff’s department and county psychologists.

Ms. Parnell asked if the child’s parents had resisted.

Mr. Piel replied he notified the child’s parents when the child was transported to Reno for the mandated 72-hour observation period. He thought the child had since been incarcerated.

Jon Rappoport, a medical reporter and private citizen, testified in favor of A.B. 686. He represented the Truth Seeker Foundation of San Diego, who charged him to write a report entitled "Why Did They Do It? An Inquiry into the School Shootings in America" (Exhibit F). The report found well documented evidence that certain psychiatric drugs produced violence, especially in children. Some of those drugs included Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil, which were all anti-depressants. Another drug found to induce violence was Ritalin. The drugs affected only a small percentage of students. Mr. Rappoport’s report contained the evidence and information supporting the drug-induced violence thesis.

Mr. Rappoport explained Eric Harris, one of the students involved in the Littleton, Colorado shooting, was on a drug similar to Prozac. An eminent psychologist said the drug caused a 4 percent rate for mania. He said mania could cause an adolescent to plan the destruction of other people or cause complete psychosis. A shooting student in Oregon was on Prozac as well as a girl in Washington, D.C., who asked the police to kill her. A prominent Washington, D.C. psychologist examined the incident and found Prozac had been a factor in many acts of violence, including suicide.

Vice Chairman Collins asked if Mr. Rappoport had testified before the committee in the 69^th Session. He said someone had testified on the same issue during that session. He pointed out the Las Vegas Metro Police had formed a program to combat the problem.

Mr. Rappoport said the action taken with A.B. 686 was fantastic. He said the back of his report included many other places the commission could go for assistance and more information in the area. He was amazed the state was taking on the issue with such vigor. He urged the committee not to forget the aspect of school violence he had brought to the table.

Jim Parry, Superintendent of Carson City School District, said every county had a family life advisory committee. The committee had student advisors as members, and he urged adding student advisors to the commission. Mr. Parry said he and the district supported A.B. 686 wholeheartedly.

Debbie Cahill, lobbyist for the Nevada State Education Association, thanked Speaker Dini and Assemblyman Perkins for agreeing to present their amendment (Exhibit D), which added one teacher to the commission. The association agreed it would be beneficial to add students to the commission. She also offered to commit the association’s resources to the new commission.

Dave Cook, member of the State Board of Education, supported creation of the commission and the bill’s concept. The Department of Education also supported the bill. They created a special program for safe and drug-free schools and had planned a safe harbor symposium in Clark and Washoe counties. In the symposium, information was shared with teachers, administrators, and law enforcement officials about drug and safety issues. He offered the support and assistance of the State Board of Education and the Department of Education for the commission.

Mr. Collins felt all the groups who testified before the committee on behalf of the bill should be allowed to assist the newly created commission in any way.

Mrs. de Braga suggested the Speaker and Majority Leader each appoint one high school student and one middle school student to the commission.

Mr. Collins said the governor planned to appoint one middle school teacher, one high school teacher, one superintendent, one parent from a rural area, and one parent from an urban area to the commission. He asked if the Speaker would care for an amendment to the bill to add students to the commission.

Paula Winne, executive assistant to the Speaker, responded he would support any amendments to include students. She also said he would be happy to appoint the student, as opposed to the governor.

Mrs. de Braga wanted to clarify a middle school and high school student should be appointed.

Ms. Parnell said she preferred the amendment as it stood, with a teacher appointed to the commission. She felt the direction of students involvement should be strictly advisory, and not as commission members.

Chairman Williams supported either amendment. He wanted to make sure at least four students had access to the commission, either as appointed members or advisory members. He felt rural areas and urban areas should both be represented by the student makeup.

Mrs. de Braga agreed with the comments made by other committee members but felt it was important for at least one student to be able to vote on the commission.

Vice Chairman Collins agreed students should be from the geographic area in which the commission met.

Chairman Williams thought travel expenses should be paid by the state and students from rural areas should be involved when issues were discussed from urban areas. He did not think the students should be limited to their locale.

Mrs. Chowning said the amendment should be left alone, but the commission should be highly encouraged to involve students. Students should be invited to all the meetings of the commission to participate. She pointed out one of the mandates of the commission was to develop recommendations for legislation. She said student input was very important in development.

ASSEMBLYWOMAN CHOWNING MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 686.

Mrs. de Braga said she still wanted to see a student with a voting seat on the commission.

Vice Chairman Collins said the commission would be responsible for developing plans including law enforcement, emergency services and personnel, and school officials. That kind of responsibility did not require the input of students. He felt youth input was important in the school-related aspects, but not in planning for emergencies.

Ms. Parnell thought the problem could be alleviated with language directing the commission to take input from a student advisory council. She felt it was important to have students referenced in the bill.

Chairman Williams supported Ms. de Braga’s position for a voting student member on the commission. He thought it was important to send a message to kids that their input was important.

Mrs. Cegavske suggested a student representative be appointed on a rotating basis, based on the geographic location of the meeting. She supported Ms. Parnell’s suggestion as well.

Mr. Manendo said student input was vital, because the students were at the crux of the whole issue. He did not think it would be beneficial to have the students rotate, but be appointed permanently. He said at least two members of the commission should be students and wanted one member from an urban area and one member from a rural area.

Vice Chairman Collins was concerned because the meetings would take students out of school. He also said the amount of input regarding policy would be limited, while the commission would be charged mainly with an emergency action plan, which did not require the input of students.

Mr. Brower thought the committee was too concerned with details. He stated the commission was made up of people responsible for addressing the school violence problem. He acknowledged students were part of the issue, but he did not want to see students charged with fixing the problem. He wanted to see students involved, but not as members of the commission.

Mrs. Koivisto asked what would happen if the governor’s appointments were changed. She said the number of appointees would have to be changed on page 1, line 2.

THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Ms. Parnell wanted the committee to send a letter to the commission urging student involvement and any local areas of expertise to assist the commission.

Vice Chairman Collins said committee staff would be directed to send the letter with the bill, if it was to pass and be signed by the governor.

With no further business before the committee, Vice Chairman Collins adjourned the meeting at 5:05 p.m.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Hilary Graunke,

Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Assemblyman Wendell Williams, Chairman

DATE: