Claire Davis School Safety Act

SB15-213 Concerning the Limited Waiver of Governmental Immunity for Claims involving Public Schools for Injuries Resulting from Incidents of School Violence known as the Claire Davis School Safety Act. (C.R.S. 24-10-106.3) This Act imposes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity for schools if a school fails to exercise "reasonable care" to protect all students, faculty and staff from "reasonably foreseeable" acts of violence that occurs at school or a school-sponsored activity.

• Senate Bill 15-213 - Waive Governmental Immunity for Acts of School Violence  (PDF)

  • Concerning the limited waiver of governmental immunity for claims involving public schools for injuries resulting from incidents of school violence.

• Senate Bill 15-214 - Creating a Legislative Committee On Safety in Schools  (PDF)

  • Concerning creating a legislative committee on safety in schools and in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Resources from the Colorado School Safety Resource Center

• Claire Davis School Safety Act One-Page Resource.

• School Safety Requirements from the Safe Schools Act (CRS 22.32.109.1) & CSSRC Recommendations

Colorado Public Radio July 3rd 2017

• School Administrators Unsure How to Protect Students Under New law 

 Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC) Director Chris Harms provides an update on progress and implications that have come out of Colorado SB 15-213 ("The Claire Davis Act", which waives governmental Immunity for acts of school violence) and SB 15-214 (creating the School Safety and Youth Mental Health Committee to study issues related to school safety and the prevention of threats to the safety of students, teachers, administrators, employees and volunteers present on the grounds of public and private schools.)

Arapahoe High School Shooting Tragedy Reports

The School Safety and Youth in Crisis Interim Committee (SSYCIC) met on Friday, January 22^nd to hear a synopsis of the three reports on the Arapahoe High School shooting tragedy. Reports were prepared by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Safe Havens International and Linda Kanan, Ph.D. with John Nicoletti, Ph.D. Dr. Kanan and Dr. Nicoletti also released Additional Information to SSYCIC.

• CSPV AHS Full Report  (PDF)

• CSPV Report Executive Summary  (PDF)

• LINDA KANAN AHS FINAL REPORT  (PDF)

• To the SSYIC Committee - Jan. 27, 2016  (PDF)

• Safe Havens Institute AHS Post-Incident Review  (PDF)

Review of the Three Arapahoe High School Shooting 2013 Reports Facilitated by the Colorado School Safety Resource Center - September, 2016

On Tuesday, September 13, 2016, the interim legislative committee, formed with the passage of SB15-214 (School Safety and Youth Mental Health in Crisis Interim Committee), met at the Capitol. The first item on the agenda was an overview of the report prepared by the working group that reviewed the recommendations of the three reports commissioned after the tragic Arapahoe High School shooting. Read the Full Report

The working group reviewed 158 recommendations agreeing with 119 of them outright and agreeing with an additional 34 with modifications. Five of the recommendations were common to all three of the commissioned reports.

The five common recommendations were:

1. Schools should utilize climate surveys

2. There should be written agreements between school districts and their local law enforcement agencies about information sharing.

3. School staff should be versed in FERPA including the fact that FERPA does not prevent reporting on students about whom staff have safety concerns.

4. Districts should utilize the 11 questions of the U.S. Secret Service in their threat assessment process.

5. Schools are encouraged to use Safe2Tell

The five recommendations with which the working group disagreed were:

• Security directors should be in charge of SRO's - The working group realizes that law enforcement agencies will always have ultimate responsibility and oversight of SROs.

• Each at-risk student to be paired with an adult - Although the working group acknowledges this is best practice and schools are always encouraged to connect students with adults, there was fear of this becoming a legislative mandate that would be difficult to track for districts.

• CSSRC auditing districts' use of their threat assessment process - The Center is always available to assist and has been conducting consultations and trainings across the state on threat assessment. However, the Center is not a compliance agency and a change in mission would disrupt the collaborative relationship that is necessary to assist schools.

• CSSRC certifying school staff and law, enforcement in threat assessment every three years - Again, the Center's role in statute is not as a regulatory agency nor does it have the resources to certify staff in over 1800 schools.

• Schools use of a continuous improvement model of error review committee - Schools are always encouraged to review their threat assessment procedures, but the recommendation as outlined in one of the reports seemed unrealistic given staff time and resources.

Additionally, of the 158 recommendations, the working group felt that schools would need resources for at least 139 of those suggestions. Rural schools would need considerable resources to fulfill the recommendations.

Please see the Full Report for an explanation under each recommendation of the resources necessary. For some recommendations you will also find "suggested assistance" paragraphs identifying where no- or low- cost resources might be acquired.

The Center would like to thank the 34 members of the working group (found on page 41 of the report) for their incredible dedication to this effort., Many came on their summer break and traveled long distances to attend these meetings. This report would not have been possible without their commitment to the safety of Colorado students. Thank you!

For additional comments or questions about the report, please contact Christine Harms, Director, Colorado School Safety Resource Center directly at 303.239.4534 or christine.harms@state.co.us.

 All Resource Index          |        Scroll-to-Top

Web Link Disclaimer: The Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC) provides links from this site to external websites because of their potential interest or usefulness to the safe and positive school environment, an education community or the general public. It attempts to monitor such sites on a regular basis. However, the CSSRC cannot be responsible for the content of any site external to its own. Further, by linking to other sites, the CSSRC is not endorsing any particular product, practice, service, provider or institution, nor does it necessarily endorse views expressed or facts presented on these sites. In addition, neither the CSSRC nor any of its employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information linked to from this site.