Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby finds that: (a) Promoting the quality of primary and secondary public education is a compelling state interest; (b) Maintaining a safe environment is an important component of learning. At times, educators may feel they lack the authority to maintain safety and discipline in the public school classroom or they may hesitate to exercise this authority because of the threat of a lawsuit resulting from their actions. (c) The filing of meritless lawsuits against school districts, teachers, administrators, and other school district employees interferes with attempts to ensure the quality of public education, particularly where the lawsuits arise out of the good-faith efforts of educators to maintain classroom discipline or address threats to student safety; (d) Meritless litigation also diverts financial and personnel resources to litigation defense activities and reduces the availability of these resources for educational opportunities for students. (2) The general assembly finds that legislation to deter meritless lawsuits and sanction deliberately false reports against educators is a rational and appropriate method to address the compelling public interest in protecting school districts and school district employees from unnecessary and harmful litigation. (3) It is the intent of the general assembly that the provisions of this article and those of the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act", article 10 of title 24, C.R.S., be read together and harmonized to give the greatest protection from liability in tort possible for educational entities and their employees. If the provisions of this article and those of the "Colorado Governmental Immunity Act" are interpreted as being in conflict, the provision that grants the greatest immunity and protection to an educational entity and its employees shall prevail.