



TALLAHASSEE - Prompted by the nation's spate of school shootings, the Florida Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would require counties to take new steps to guard against on-campus violence.

The measure, approved 38-0, would ensure that school districts have standard disciplinary policies related to bomb threats, fighting or bringing weapons to school.

In the wake of last spring's shootings at Colorado's Columbine High School, the Senate hastily formed a task force that spent months holding public hearings examining the issue of school violence. The Senate bill includes most of that task force's recommendations, and now goes to the House for further consideration.

From the state level, the legislation also would create a new tracking system to collect data on criminal, violent or disruptive incidents on school grounds, on buses or at school-sponsored events.

A key part of the bill removes a requirement that uses a school's disciplinary record in determining its overall grade evaluation. That requirement now sometimes discourages school administrators from taking action against trouble-makers, fearing it will hurt the school's grade, lawmakers said.

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