A school board must have a policy requiring the appropriate school official to, as soon as practicable, refer to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system, as appropriate, a pupil who brings a firearm to school unlawfully.

Subdivision 1. Definitions. — As used in this section:

(1) “dangerous weapon” has the meaning given it in section 609.02, subdivision 6;

(2) “school” has the meaning given it in section 120A.22, subdivision 4; and

(3) “school zone” has the meaning given it in section 152.01, subdivision 14a, clauses (1) and (3). Subd. 2. Reports; content. — School districts must electronically report to the commissioner of education incidents involving the use or possession of a dangerous weapon in school zones. The form must include the following information:

(1) a description of each incident, including a description of the dangerous weapon involved in the incident;

(2) where, at what time, and under what circumstances the incident occurred;

(3) information about the offender, other than the offender’s name, including the offender’s age; whether the offender was a student and, if so, where the offender attended school; and whether the offender was under school expulsion or suspension at the time of the incident;

(4) information about the victim other than the victim’s name, if any, including the victim’s age; whether the victim was a student and, if so, where the victim attended school; and if the victim was not a student, whether the victim was employed at the school;

(5) the cost of the incident to the school and to the victim; and

(6) the action taken by the school administration to respond to the incident. The commissioner shall provide an electronic reporting format that allows school districts to provide aggregate data.

Subd. 3. Reports; filing requirements. — By July 31 of each year, each public school shall report incidents involving the use or possession of a dangerous weapon in school zones to the commissioner. The reports must be submitted using the electronic reporting system developed by the commissioner under subdivision 2. The commissioner shall compile the information it receives from the schools and report it annually to the commissioner of public safety and the legislature.

(a) Notwithstanding the time limitation in section 121A.41, subdivision 5, a school board must expel for a period of at least one year a pupil who is determined to have brought a firearm to school except the board may modify this expulsion requirement for a pupil on a case-by-case basis. For the purposes of this section, firearm is as defined in United States Code, title 18, section 921.

(b) Notwithstanding chapter 13, a student’s expulsion or withdrawal or transfer from a school after an expulsion action is initiated against the student for a weapons violation under paragraph (a) may be disclosed by the school district initiating the expulsion proceeding. Unless the information is otherwise public, the disclosure may be made only to another school district in connection with the possible admission of the student to the other district.

Subdivision 1.  Requiring a hearing; pupil may waive hearing. No exclusion or expulsion shall be imposed without a hearing, unless the right to a hearing is waived in writing by the pupil and parent or guardian. The action shall be initiated by the school board or its agent.

(a) The commissioner of education shall promulgate guidelines to assist each school board. Each school board shall establish uniform criteria for dismissal and adopt written policies and rules to effectuate the purposes of sections 121A.40 to 121A.56. The policies shall emphasize preventing dismissals through early detection of problems and shall be designed to address students’ inappropriate behavior from recurring. The policies shall recognize the continuing responsibility of the school for the education of the pupil during the dismissal period. The alternative educational services, if the pupil wishes to take advantage of them, must be adequate to allow the pupil to make progress towards meeting the graduation Standard adopted under section 120B.02 and help prepare the pupil for readmission.