Senate Panel Approves "Common Sense" School Discipline Bill
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - With the House already giving approval last month, a Senate committee Tuesday backed a proposal (SB 1060) aimed at preventing schoolchildren from being disciplined for simulating guns while playing or for wearing clothes that depict firearms.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, has become known as the "Pop-Tart" bill because of reports about a Maryland 7-year-old who was suspended from school for chewing his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun.
Supporters of the bill, which is backed by the National Rifle Association, say it would lend "common sense" to school zero-tolerance disciplinary policies.
Evers said, however, the bill would leave room for students to be disciplined if they are disrupting classrooms. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-1 to approve the bill, with Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, the only dissenter.
The House voted 98-17 last month to approve its version (HB 7029).
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.