A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning notifying a school when a student has
Page 1, Line 102experienced a traumatic event.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)
The bill requires the safe2tell program (safe2tell) to provide a handle-with-care notice to a school when a student has had an adverse childhood experience. A peace officer who responds to an incident that is an adverse childhood experience shall report to safe2tell the name and age of the child involved in the incident. Upon receipt of a report, safe2tell shall send a handle-with-care notice to the child's school that includes only the child's name and the phrase "handle with care". A school shall only share the notice with school staff who need to know about the notice. Other than notifying school staff, a school is not required to take any action with respect to the notice.
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, amend 24-31-603 as follows:
Page 2, Line 324-31-603. Definitions. As used in this
articlePage 2, Line 4(1)
"Department" means the department of law.Page 2, Line 5childhood experience" means a traumatic event that involves a
Page 2, Line 6school-aged child or the child's family or that occurs at the
Page 2, Line 7child's home. "Adverse childhood experience" includes, but is not
Page 2, Line 8limited to, an incident of domestic violence; a serious accident;
Page 2, Line 9the arrest of a parent or family member; incidents of child abuse
Page 2, Line 10or neglect; a death at the child's home or of a friend of the
Page 2, Line 11child; execution of a search warrant; or a drug or alcohol overdose.
Page 2, Line 12(2) "Department" means the department of law.
Page 2, Line 13
(2)Page 2, Line 14(4) "Large rural school district" means a school district
Page 2, Line 15in Colorado that the department of education determines is
Page 2, Line 16rural, based on the geographic size of the district and the
Page 2, Line 17distance of the district from the nearest large, urbanized area,
Page 2, Line 18that had a funded pupil count for the prior budget year of one
Page 2, Line 19thousand pupils or more but fewer than six thousand five hundred pupils.
Page 3, Line 1
(3)Page 3, Line 2documents, or information anonymously reported or information related to the source of materials, including personal data.
Page 3, Line 3(6) "Personal data" means information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual.
Page 3, Line 4
(4)Page 3, Line 5(8) "Small rural school district" means a school district
Page 3, Line 6in Colorado that the department of education determines is
Page 3, Line 7rural, based on the geographic size of the district and the
Page 3, Line 8distance of the district from the nearest large, urbanized area,
Page 3, Line 9that had a funded pupil count for the prior budget year of fewer than one thousand pupils.
Page 3, Line 10SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-31-606, add (5) as follows:
Page 3, Line 1124-31-606. Safe2tell program - creation - duties - handle-with
Page 3, Line 12-care notice. (5) (a) The program shall provide a
Page 3, Line 13handle-with-care notice to a school when a student has had an adverse childhood experience:
Page 3, Line 14(I) Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, for students enrolled in a school in a small rural school district;
Page 3, Line 15(II) Beginning with the 2027-28 school year, for students
Page 3, Line 16enrolled in a small rural school district or a large rural school district; and
Page 3, Line 17(III) Beginning with the 2028-29 school year, for students enrolled in any school statewide.
Page 3, Line 18(b) Beginning August 1, 2026, a peace officer who responds
Page 4, Line 1to an incident that is an adverse childhood experience may,
Page 4, Line 2subject to constitutional limitations, either report to the
Page 4, Line 3program the name and age of the child involved in the incident
Page 4, Line 4or provide information to the child's parent or guardian about
Page 4, Line 5how to inform the school through the program.
Page 4, Line 6Notwithstanding any requirement in subsection (2) of this
Page 4, Line 7section to the contrary, a report made to the program pursuant to this subsection (5)(b) is not anonymous.
Page 4, Line 8(c) Upon receiving a report of an adverse childhood
Page 4, Line 9experience pursuant to subsection (5)(b) of this section, the
Page 4, Line 10program shall send a handle-with-care notice to the child's
Page 4, Line 11school before the start of the next school day after receiving
Page 4, Line 12the report. The handle-with-care notice must only include the
Page 4, Line 13child's name and the phrase "handle with care". The notice must
Page 4, Line 14not include any details about the adverse childhood experience incident.
Page 4, Line 15(d) A school that receives a handle-with-care notice
Page 4, Line 16shall not include the notice in the child's records and shall
Page 4, Line 17only share the notice with school staff who, in the school's
Page 4, Line 18chief administrative officer's or the officer's designee's
Page 4, Line 19determination, need to know about the notice. Other than
Page 4, Line 20notifying school staff, a school is not required to take any action with respect to the child or notice.
Page 4, Line 21SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly finds,
Page 4, Line 22determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
Page 4, Line 23preservation of the public peace, health, or safety or for appropriations for
Page 5, Line 1the support and maintenance of the departments of the state and state institutions.