Introduction
Once Virginia schools begin in-person teaching again, educators and school resource police will have to follow two new laws aimed at stopping the criminalization of children’s behavior at school legislation inspired by Center for Public Integrity reporting.
One law passed this year prohibits charging students with criminal disorderly conduct during school or at school-sponsored events. The other, approved in March, restores discretion to principals to decide when to alert police if student conduct could be considered a misdemeanor. Educators interpreted past law to require them to report any incident.
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The laws were passed after a 2015 Public Integrity investigation, which found Virginia’s rate of student referral to law enforcement was about three times the national rate. Nationally and in Virginia, Black and Latino students and children with disabilities were disproportionately referred, the analysis showed. Th