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School-safety bill has full Senate support

Measure would hold districts accountable for violence
Parker Semin, a 2011 Arapahoe High School graduate, prays at a makeshift memorial bearing the name of student Claire Davis, who was shot by a classmate during school three days earlier in an attack. Lawmakers advanced a measure on Thursday that would hold schools accountable for preventable acts of violence.

DENVER – After tearful testimony, a Colorado House committee Thursday advanced a measure that would hold schools liable for certain acts of violence.

The House Judiciary Committee backed Senate Bill 213 by a vote of 10-3. The measure already has made it past the Senate. It now heads to the full House for debate. The bill has the support of legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle.

Lawmakers were moved by testimony from the parents of Claire Davis, who was shot to death by a classmate at Arapahoe High School in Centennial in 2013. The shooter then turned the gun on himself.

The measure was crafted with guidance from the Davis family after they pointed to trouble with obtaining information related to the shooting when the school district initially denied the request.

The legislation would allow people to file lawsuits against schools if an act of violence occurred that could have been prevented. Individuals would be able to recover up to $350,000 in damages, as well as obtain investigative information.

“Senate Bill 213 could have saved two lives that day,” Desiree Davis, the mother of Claire Davis, said while choking back tears. “Claire will not be coming home to us. All of our hopes and dreams, they’re gone.

“These bills are not for us; they are for the next family that expects the schools to take reasonable measures to keep their precious children safe so that they may return home at the end of a school day.”

Schools have raised concerns with the bill, pointing out that expanding liability could have consequences on budgets. They also worry about schools taking radical steps, such as disciplining students simply out of fear of liability.

In the case of Davis, the shooter had a history of incidents, which the district deemed a low-level threat, despite the shooter shouting a death threat against a school employee earlier in his history.

Lawmakers addressed some concerns from schools by amending the bill to exempt a failure to suspend or expel a student. It also was amended to state that an employee is not subject to a lawsuit unless the employee’s actions are intentional or reckless. Another amendment created a two-year timeout for districts before damages would be assessed by a court. And on Thursday, the bill further was amended to exempt negligence during the timeout.

“It is time to have a duty to protect these kids,” said House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, a sponsor of the bill. “It will be a meaningful step in the right direction to incentivize the change.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com



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