A project called SAVE (Schools Against Violence in Education) has been introduced to all schools by the New York State Department of Education and has mandated that the laws must be adopted by all school districts by July 1, 2001.

The new laws were presented at the last New Hyde Park/Garden City Park school board meeting by school board attorney Richard Nicolello. The board will study the laws and will then begin to put them into place in order to meet the July deadline.

Included in the law is a mandate to fingerprint all prospective employees of the district by July 1, 2001 for the purpose of a criminal history record check. This law will also include part-time employees, substitute teachers and outside contractors. It does not include volunteers or current employees.

Anyone applying to the New York State Education Department for certification as a superintendent, administrator, teacher or other school personnel will also be required to submit to fingerprinting and a criminal history background check.

The commissioner of education, after he receives a criminal history record from the law enforcement agency, will notify the school whether the prospective employee is cleared for employment. The district may not employ any individual who is denied clearance.

The first mandate is for each district to add violence prevention training to existing superintendents' conference day programs.

1. Code of Conduct and Safety Plans.

The plan mandates that the board must adopt a code of conduct for the maintenance of order on school property, school buses and at school functions. The code, it is stated, will govern the conduct of students, teachers and other school personnel as well as visitors and will provide for enforcement.

Further, it is stated that the code of conduct must be developed in collaboration with student, teacher, administrator and parent organizations, school safety personnel and other school personnel.

Prior to the adoption of the code of conduct the board must hold at least one public hearing that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students and any other interested parties.

After the adoption of the code a summary must be provided to students at a general assembly in the beginning of the school year. Further, it is mandated that the board must make a plain language summary to parents and must make copies of the code available to parents in the beginning of the year and the board must also inform the community of code provisions.

The code must then be filed with the education commissioner within 30 days of its adoption. It must be reviewed and updated after a public hearing annually.

2. School Safety Plan

The board of education must adopt a comprehensive districtwide school safety plan and building-level safety plan which must address crisis intervention, emergency response and management. The form of the plans will be developed by the commissioner.

A districtwide safety team must be appointed by the board of education and must include board members, representatives of student, teacher, administrator, parent organizations, school safety personnel and other school personnel. The safety plan must be developed by the safety team.

The building-level safety teams are appointed by building principals. The teams are responsible for developing a school safety plan, the content of which is provided in the statute. The building-level team must include representatives of teacher, administrator, parent organizations, school safety personnel and other school personnel community members, law enforcement officials, local ambulance and other emergency response agencies.

Both plans must be made available for public comment at least 30 days before their adoption. The board must hold at least one public hearing before the plans are adopted. The plan must then be filed with the commissioner.

The plans must be reviewed annually and updated as needed.

3. Teacher Removal of Disruptive Students

Violent students, under the Project SAVE law, mandates that a teacher must immediately report and refer a violent pupil to the principal or superintendent for a violation of the code of conduct. The term "violent student" is defined in the law.

Disruptive students. The law authorizes teachers to remove disruptive students consistent with disciplinary measures in the code of conduct. Schools must establish policies and procedures to ensure continued educational programming and activities for students removed from the classroom.

The teacher must inform the student and principal of the reasons for removal. If the student's presence does not pose a continuing danger or present a threat of disruption the teacher must provide the explanation to the student and allow the student an informal opportunity to be heard before removal. Otherwise the explanation and opportunity to be heard may be provided within 24 hours.

Disruptive students will not return to the classroom until the principal makes a final determination that the removal is consistent with the code and that the fact of the incident warrants removal.

The principal must inform the parents and explain the reason for the removal within 24 hours. Upon request the principal must have an informal conference and within 48 hours allow the parents and student to be heard. The determination to suspend a student is limited to the board, superintendent and principal.

The commissioner is to establish a statewide uniform violent incident reporting system which all schools must follow. All school districts must annually report to the commissioner all violent incidents that occur in the school year. The commissioner will establish a form and a date by which the report must be submitted. Districts will be required to include a summary of the information in the district report cards. The Board of Regents will develop a course of instruction in civility, citizenship and character education. The board will implement the new curriculum and provide instruction on the principles of honestly, tolerance, person responsibility, respect for others, observance of laws and rules of courtesy, dignity.

The new law sets forth procedures for the reporting of allegations of sexual abuse involving school employees or volunteers in any educational setting. There is already a law in place that requires school officials to report suspected child abuse to the state.

The new law provides specific procedures for reporting within the school district, to law enforcement agencies and to the commissioner when allegations relate to an employee or volunteer of a district. School employees, administrators, superintendents and board members who learn of allegations from children, parents or others must report the allegations. The definition of child abuse has been expanded to include committing or attempting to commit the crime of disseminating indecent materials to minors.

Willful failure to report is a misdemeanor and is also punishable by civil penalty. An employee, volunteer, administrator or superintendent who makes and or transmits a report in good faith has immunity from civil liability.

The law prohibits "quiet resignations." These are agreements by which some districts have agreed to withhold from law enforcement authorities or the commissioner that an allegation of child abuse in an education setting has been made.