Dive Brief:

• The Colorado Senate has given initial approval to two bills dealing with violence and mental health in schools.
• The violence bill allows victims of violence in schools to sue their district for information around the incident, while the mental health bill would create a committee tasked with studying mental health in schools, according to the Denver Post.
• The bills include input from Mike and Desiree Davis, whose daughter Claire was killed in a December 2013 shooting at Arapahoe High School.

Dive Insight:

In the case of the school violence bill, parents of students who have been affected by school violence can sue the school for records on the perpetrator of violence to find out if the school appropriately handled concerns to prevent larger, more violent issues. Attorneys for the school district say this bill could have dire, unanticipated consequences, as schools will constantly want to make sure they are taking precautions, which could lead to higher suspension and expulsion rates.

"If students engage in any kind of misconduct, in any way shape or form that could be deemed a safety issue, school administrators are going to have no choice other than to suspend or expel those students," said Sonja McKenzie, attorney for Cherry Creek School District, who says this will lead to less discretion and second chances, something that is being increasingly desired in schools as high suspension rates are attributed to feeding the school-to-prison pipeline.