I heard the original script was a lot darker.

No because the film was released 2 months before Columbine.

Honey, you were thinking of another gay director/writer's movie, Kevin Williamson's "Teaching Mrs. Tingle"... It was originally titled Killing Mrs. Tingle but had a title change, toned down the violent themes and release date was pushed back to later in '99 after the Columbine tragedy.