Nevada School Discipline Rules Change Bill Moves To Assembly

The Nevada Senate has approved a bill that would give school superintendents new discretion in student discipline.

Current law requires a student be suspended on a first offense for drug sales, firearms possession, or battery. The bill that the Senate approved Thursday would allow superintendents to write new policies and exceptions for those offenses.

It would also remove the requirement that students who use indecent language be charged with a misdemeanor. The bill's sponsor is Republican Senator and teacher Scott Hammond.

“For me it is a teachable moment to go over there and tell them that this is not the kind of language that you use here. But it's not an offense that I think warrants a misdemeanor," Hammond says.

The bill also gives administrators the flexibility to consider whether a student committed a crime on campus “maliciously" or not. The bill moves now to the Nevada Assembly.