Bill Text: IL HB3582 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Family Services, to establish a bullying hotline for students, parents, teachers, and other parties to report any violence happening on school property, on a school bus, or over the Internet via cyber-bullying. Provides that the hotline shall consist of a statewide, toll-free telephone number, with voicemail capabilities provided after working hours. Provides that the State Board shall also maintain an Internet website for reports to be submitted online. Requires the State Board to adopt rules to implement these provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-14 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Martin J. Moylan [HB3582 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB3582-Introduced.html

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99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 HB3582 Introduced , by Rep. Silvana Tabares SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27-23.7
Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Family Services, to establish a bullying hotline for students, parents, teachers, and other parties to report any violence happening on school property, on a school bus, or over the Internet via cyber-bullying. Provides that the hotline shall consist of a statewide, toll-free telephone number, with voicemail capabilities provided after working hours. Provides that the State Board shall also maintain an Internet website for reports to be submitted online. Requires the State Board to adopt rules to implement these provisions.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
27-23.7 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27-23.7)
Sec. 27-23.7. Bullying prevention.
(a) The General Assembly finds that a safe and civil school
environment is necessary for students to learn and achieve and
that bullying causes physical, psychological, and emotional
harm to students and interferes with students' ability to learn
and participate in school activities. The General Assembly
further finds that bullying has been linked to other forms of
antisocial behavior, such as vandalism, shoplifting, skipping
and dropping out of school, fighting, using drugs and alcohol,
sexual harassment, and sexual violence. Because of the negative
outcomes associated with bullying in schools, the General
Assembly finds that school districts, charter schools, and
non-public, non-sectarian elementary and secondary schools
should educate students, parents, and school district, charter
school, or non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary
school personnel about what behaviors constitute prohibited
bullying.

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Bullying on the basis of actual or perceived race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status,
physical or mental disability, military status, sexual
orientation, gender-related identity or expression,
unfavorable discharge from military service, association with
a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual
or perceived characteristics, or any other distinguishing
characteristic is prohibited in all school districts, charter
schools, and non-public, non-sectarian elementary and
secondary schools. No student shall be subjected to bullying:
(1) during any school-sponsored education program or
activity;
(2) while in school, on school property, on school
buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus
stops waiting for the school bus, or at school-sponsored or
school-sanctioned events or activities;
(3) through the transmission of information from a
school computer, a school computer network, or other
similar electronic school equipment; or
(4) through the transmission of information from a
computer that is accessed at a nonschool-related location,
activity, function, or program or from the use of
technology or an electronic device that is not owned,
leased, or used by a school district or school if the
bullying causes a substantial disruption to the
educational process or orderly operation of a school. This

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item (4) applies only in cases in which a school
administrator or teacher receives a report that bullying
through this means has occurred and does not require a
district or school to staff or monitor any
nonschool-related activity, function, or program.
(a-5) Nothing in this Section is intended to infringe upon
any right to exercise free expression or the free exercise of
religion or religiously based views protected under the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution or under Section 3
of Article I of the Illinois Constitution.
(b) In this Section:
"Bullying" includes "cyber-bullying" and means any severe
or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including
communications made in writing or electronically, directed
toward a student or students that has or can be reasonably
predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:
(1) placing the student or students in reasonable fear
of harm to the student's or students' person or property;
(2) causing a substantially detrimental effect on the
student's or students' physical or mental health;
(3) substantially interfering with the student's or
students' academic performance; or
(4) substantially interfering with the student's or
students' ability to participate in or benefit from the
services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
Bullying, as defined in this subsection (b), may take

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various forms, including without limitation one or more of the
following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking,
physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft,
public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation
for asserting or alleging an act of bullying. This list is
meant to be illustrative and non-exhaustive.
"Cyber-bullying" means bullying through the use of
technology or any electronic communication, including without
limitation any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images,
sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in
whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic system,
photoelectronic system, or photooptical system, including
without limitation electronic mail, Internet communications,
instant messages, or facsimile communications.
"Cyber-bullying" includes the creation of a webpage or weblog
in which the creator assumes the identity of another person or
the knowing impersonation of another person as the author of
posted content or messages if the creation or impersonation
creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of
bullying in this Section. "Cyber-bullying" also includes the
distribution by electronic means of a communication to more
than one person or the posting of material on an electronic
medium that may be accessed by one or more persons if the
distribution or posting creates any of the effects enumerated
in the definition of bullying in this Section.
"Policy on bullying" means a bullying prevention policy

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that meets the following criteria:
(1) Includes the bullying definition provided in this
Section.
(2) Includes a statement that bullying is contrary to
State law and the policy of the school district, charter
school, or non-public, non-sectarian elementary or
secondary school and is consistent with subsection (a-5) of
this Section.
(3) Includes procedures for promptly reporting
bullying, including, but not limited to, identifying and
providing the school e-mail address (if applicable) and
school telephone number for the staff person or persons
responsible for receiving such reports and a procedure for
anonymous reporting; however, this shall not be construed
to permit formal disciplinary action solely on the basis of
an anonymous report.
(4) Consistent with federal and State laws and rules
governing student privacy rights, includes procedures for
promptly informing parents or guardians of all students
involved in the alleged incident of bullying and
discussing, as appropriate, the availability of social
work services, counseling, school psychological services,
other interventions, and restorative measures.
(5) Contains procedures for promptly investigating and
addressing reports of bullying, including the following:
(A) Making all reasonable efforts to complete the

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investigation within 10 school days after the date the
report of the incident of bullying was received and
taking into consideration additional relevant
information received during the course of the
investigation about the reported incident of bullying.
(B) Involving appropriate school support personnel
and other staff persons with knowledge, experience,
and training on bullying prevention, as deemed
appropriate, in the investigation process.
(C) Notifying the principal or school
administrator or his or her designee of the report of
the incident of bullying as soon as possible after the
report is received.
(D) Consistent with federal and State laws and
rules governing student privacy rights, providing
parents and guardians of the students who are parties
to the investigation information about the
investigation and an opportunity to meet with the
principal or school administrator or his or her
designee to discuss the investigation, the findings of
the investigation, and the actions taken to address the
reported incident of bullying.
(6) Includes the interventions that can be taken to
address bullying, which may include, but are not limited
to, school social work services, restorative measures,
social-emotional skill building, counseling, school

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psychological services, and community-based services.
(7) Includes a statement prohibiting reprisal or
retaliation against any person who reports an act of
bullying and the consequences and appropriate remedial
actions for a person who engages in reprisal or
retaliation.
(8) Includes consequences and appropriate remedial
actions for a person found to have falsely accused another
of bullying as a means of retaliation or as a means of
bullying.
(9) Is based on the engagement of a range of school
stakeholders, including students and parents or guardians.
(10) Is posted on the school district's, charter
school's, or non-public, non-sectarian elementary or
secondary school's existing Internet website and is
included in the student handbook, and, where applicable,
posted where other policies, rules, and standards of
conduct are currently posted in the school, and is
distributed annually to parents, guardians, students, and
school personnel, including new employees when hired.
(11) As part of the process of reviewing and
re-evaluating the policy under subsection (d) of this
Section, contains a policy evaluation process to assess the
outcomes and effectiveness of the policy that includes, but
is not limited to, factors such as the frequency of
victimization; student, staff, and family observations of

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safety at a school; identification of areas of a school
where bullying occurs; the types of bullying utilized; and
bystander intervention or participation. The school
district, charter school, or non-public, non-sectarian
elementary or secondary school may use relevant data and
information it already collects for other purposes in the
policy evaluation. The information developed as a result of
the policy evaluation must be made available on the
Internet website of the school district, charter school, or
non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school.
If an Internet website is not available, the information
must be provided to school administrators, school board
members, school personnel, parents, guardians, and
students.
(12) Is consistent with the policies of the school
board, charter school, or non-public, non-sectarian
elementary or secondary school.
"Restorative measures" means a continuum of school-based
alternatives to exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions
and expulsions, that: (i) are adapted to the particular needs
of the school and community, (ii) contribute to maintaining
school safety, (iii) protect the integrity of a positive and
productive learning climate, (iv) teach students the personal
and interpersonal skills they will need to be successful in
school and society, (v) serve to build and restore
relationships among students, families, schools, and

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communities, and (vi) reduce the likelihood of future
disruption by balancing accountability with an understanding
of students' behavioral health needs in order to keep students
in school.
"School personnel" means persons employed by, on contract
with, or who volunteer in a school district, charter school
schools, or non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary
school, including without limitation school and school
district administrators, teachers, school guidance counselors,
school social workers, school counselors, school
psychologists, school nurses, cafeteria workers, custodians,
bus drivers, school resource officers, and security guards.
(c) (Blank).
(c-5) The State Board of Education, in consultation with
the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of
Children and Family Services, shall establish a bullying
hotline for students, parents, teachers, and other parties to
report any violence happening on school property, on a school
bus, or over the Internet via cyber-bullying. The hotline shall
consist of a statewide, toll-free telephone number, with
voicemail capabilities provided after working hours. The State
Board shall also maintain an Internet website for reports to be
submitted online. The State Board shall adopt rules to
implement this subsection (c-5).
(d) Each school district, charter school, and non-public,
non-sectarian elementary or secondary school shall create,

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maintain, and implement a policy on bullying, which policy must
be filed with the State Board of Education. The policy or
implementing procedure shall include a process to investigate
whether a reported act of bullying is within the permissible
scope of the district's or school's jurisdiction and shall
require that the district or school provide the victim with
information regarding services that are available within the
district and community, such as counseling, support services,
and other programs. Every 2 years, each school district,
charter school, and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or
secondary school shall conduct a review and re-evaluation of
its policy and make any necessary and appropriate revisions.
The policy must be filed with the State Board of Education
after being updated. The State Board of Education shall monitor
and provide technical support for the implementation of
policies created under this subsection (d).
(e) This Section shall not be interpreted to prevent a
victim from seeking redress under any other available civil or
criminal law.
(Source: P.A. 98-669, eff. 6-26-14; 98-801, eff. 1-1-15;
revised 10-2-14.)