April 24, 2001

SACRAMENTO – The state would set up a $6 million toll-free hotline where students and parents could report school violence threats and acts under a bill given its first approval Tuesday.

The bill was written by Assemblyman Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, after the shooting at Santana High School in San Diego County, where two students were killed and 13 people wounded on March 5.

The hotline would be run by the state Department of Justice. Students, parents or anyone else could report any possibly violent acts or threats and the hotline operators would notify school officials and local police.

The hotline number would be printed on the back of school identification cards for all middle and high school students.

The bill was sent to the Appropriations Committee by a unanimous vote of the Public Safety Committee.

  

On the Net: Read the bill, AB725, at www.sen.ca.gov