DENVER – The Colorado Senate on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a measure that would hold schools liable for certain acts of violence.
The measure has been a priority for legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle, with sponsorship from both the Senate president and House speaker.
Senate Bill 213 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 regarding the incident.
The impetus for the bill was Claire Davis, who was shot to death by a classmate at Arapahoe High School in Centennial in 2013. Davis’ family requested information about the shooting from the district, but the district initially denied the request, forcing arbitration.
Shocked by the resistance, Senate President Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, sought to remedy the situation by limiting a school’s immunity.
“Parents have a reasonable expectation that when they send their children to a public school, that the school and its employees will have taken steps to keep them safe,” Cadman said.
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.
School superintendents are concerned about the bill, suggesting that it could have far-reaching implications on budgets. They also worry about knee-jerk reactions to the bill, including a spike in disciplinary action against students.
The bill heavily was amended Tuesday to address concerns, including exempting a failure to suspend or expel a student as a condition for filing a lawsuit. Another amendment states that an employee is not subject to a lawsuit unless the employee’s actions are intentional or reckless. A separate amendment created a two-year timeout for districts before damages would be assessed by a court.
As a sign of gratitude to the Davis family for bringing the issue to light, lawmakers named the legislation the “Claire Davis School Safety Act.”
Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, supported the bill in committee and plans on supporting it again when it has a final vote in the Senate, which could come as early as Wednesday.
“The Davises, they’re not in this for retribution,” Roberts said. “They’re in this to prevent other families from having to go through this extremely painful experience.”