SB 107, recently enacted by our Legislature, requires each campus to identify a Campus Behavior Coordinator.  That’s the part of this new law that has drawn the most interest. But SB 107 also makes a subtle but important change in the law pertaining to the possession of weapons at school.

Prior law called for the expulsion of a student who “uses, exhibits, or possesses” certain weapons: a firearm, illegal knife, a club, or any weapon prohibited by Penal Code 46.05.

The new law calls for expulsion of the student who “engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of unlawfully carrying weapons under Section 46.02, Penal Code, or elements of an offense related to prohibited weapons under Section 46.05, Penal Code.”

The “elements of the offense of unlawfully carrying weapons” under 46.02 are:  1) that the person carried the weapon “on or about his or her person”; 2) that the carrying was done “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly”; and 3) that the weapon was a handgun, illegal knife, or club.  So what does that have to do with the illegal knife in the locker?  The argument will be made that “in the locker” is not “on or about his or her person.”  Is having a knife in the locker subject to discipline? It would be if your Code of Conduct says so. But with this new law in place, it may not meet the definition of a mandatory expellable offense under Chapter 37.

What about 46.05?  That statute makes it an offense to “intentionally or knowingly” possess, manufacture, transport, repair or sell an explosive weapon, a machine gun, a short-barrel firearm, a firearm silencer, knuckles, armor-piercing ammunition, a chemical dispensing device, a zip gun, or a tire deflation device.  Notice: knives are not on that list.

This law, like most of Chapter 37, does not apply to charters. But for the traditional schools, this will require careful attention to your Code of Conduct.

DAWG BONE: A GOOD ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL HAS THE CODE OF CONDUCT CLOSE TO MEMORIZED