This legal primer on violence in schools addresses the responsibility of school officials to respond to undisciplined youths whose behavior threatens the welfare and safety of other children in attendance. It is broken down into sections that provide a brief overview of the key rules and guidelines for school officials and teachers in each topic area. It focuses on school liability (civil liability, constitutional claims, workers' compensation, and defenses to claims against schools); search and seizure--threats of violence (search and seizure, student tips, risk factors, locker searches, metal detectors, strip searches, threats of violence, and cameras); zero tolerance--suspension and expulsion (zero tolerance, state interest in safe schools, suspension for off-campus activity, and due process in suspensions and expulsions); and use of student records (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, sharing disciplinary records, state law, and response to release of student records). Each section concludes with a checklist. Legal resources are appended. (Contains 102 endnotes and 12 resources.) (SM)