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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY WASHINGTON, ARGALL, COSTA, FERLO, BREWSTER, HUGHES, KITCHEN, SOLOBAY, STACK, WILLIAMS, WOZNIAK, YUDICHAK AND FARNESE, APRIL 8, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO EDUCATION, APRIL 8, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An |
2 | act relating to the public school system, including certain |
3 | provisions applicable as well to private and parochial |
4 | schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the |
5 | laws relating thereto," providing for antibullying bill of |
6 | rights. |
7 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
8 | hereby enacts as follows: |
9 | Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known |
10 | as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a |
11 | section to read: |
12 | Section 1303.2-A. Antibullying Bill of Rights.--(a) The |
13 | policy adopted by each school entity pursuant to section |
14 | 1303.1-A shall include provisions for appropriate responses to |
15 | harassment, intimidation or bullying that occurs off school |
16 | grounds in cases in which a school employe is made aware of such |
17 | actions and such actions create a hostile environment at school |
18 | for the student, infringe on the rights of the student at school |
19 | or disrupt the education process or orderly operation of a |
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1 | school. The responses to harassment, intimidation or bullying |
2 | that occur off school grounds shall be consistent with the State |
3 | Board of Education's code of student conduct and other |
4 | provisions of the board's policy on harassment, intimidation or |
5 | bullying. |
6 | (b) (1) The principal in each school in a school entity |
7 | shall appoint a school antibullying specialist. When a school |
8 | guidance counselor, school psychologist or another individual |
9 | similarly trained is currently employed in the school, the |
10 | principal shall appoint that individual to be the school |
11 | antibullying specialist. If no individual meeting this criteria |
12 | is currently employed in the school, the principal shall appoint |
13 | a school antibullying specialist from currently employed school |
14 | personnel. The school antibullying specialist shall: |
15 | (i) Chair the school safety team as provided in subsection |
16 | (c). |
17 | (ii) Lead the investigation of incidents of harassment, |
18 | intimidation and bullying in the school. |
19 | (iii) Act as the primary school official responsible for |
20 | preventing, identifying and addressing incidents of harassment, |
21 | intimidation and bullying in the school. |
22 | (2) The chief school administrator shall appoint a school |
23 | entity antibullying coordinator. The chief school administrator |
24 | shall make every effort to appoint an employe of the school |
25 | entity to this position. The school entity antibullying |
26 | coordinator shall: |
27 | (i) Be responsible for coordinating and strengthening the |
28 | school entity's policies to prevent, identify and address |
29 | harassment, intimidation and bullying of students. |
30 | (ii) Collaborate with school antibullying specialists in the |
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1 | school entity, the State Board of Education and the chief school |
2 | administrator to prevent, identify and respond to harassment, |
3 | intimidation and bullying of students in the school entity. |
4 | (iii) Provide data, in collaboration with the chief school |
5 | administrator, to the Department of Education regarding |
6 | harassment, intimidation and bullying of students. |
7 | (iv) Execute such other duties related to school harassment, |
8 | intimidation and bullying as requested by the chief school |
9 | administrator. |
10 | (3) The school entity's antibullying coordinator shall meet |
11 | at least twice a school year, once in the first semester and |
12 | once in the second semester, with the school antibullying |
13 | specialists in the school entity to discuss and strengthen |
14 | procedures and policies to prevent, identify and address |
15 | harassment, intimidation and bullying in the school entity. |
16 | (c) (1) Each school entity shall form a school safety team |
17 | in each school entity to develop, foster and maintain a positive |
18 | school climate by focusing on the ongoing, systemic process and |
19 | practices in the school and to address school climate issues |
20 | such as harassment, intimidation or bullying. A school safety |
21 | team shall meet at least two times per school year, once in the |
22 | first semester and once in the second semester. |
23 | (2) A school safety team shall consist of the principal or |
24 | his designee who, if possible, shall be a senior administrator |
25 | in the school and the following appointees of the principal: a |
26 | teacher in the school; a school antibullying specialist; a |
27 | parent of a student in the school; and other members to be |
28 | determined by the principal. The school antibullying specialist |
29 | shall serve as the chair of the school safety team. |
30 | (3) The school safety team shall: |
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1 | (i) Receive any complaints of harassment, intimidation or |
2 | bullying of students that have been reported to the principal. |
3 | (ii) Receive copies of any report prepared after an |
4 | investigation of an incident of harassment, intimidation or |
5 | bullying. |
6 | (iii) Identify and address patterns of harassment, |
7 | intimidation or bullying of students in the school. |
8 | (iv) Review and strengthen school climate and the policies |
9 | of the school in order to prevent and address harassment, |
10 | intimidation or bullying of students. |
11 | (v) Educate the community, including students, teachers, |
12 | administrative staff and parents to prevent and address |
13 | harassment, intimidation or bullying of students. |
14 | (vi) Participate in training which the principal or the |
15 | school entity antibullying coordinator may request. |
16 | (vii) Collaborate with the school entity's antibullying |
17 | coordinator in the collection of the entire school entity's data |
18 | and in the development of school entity policies to prevent and |
19 | address harassment, intimidation or bullying of students. |
20 | (viii) Execute such other duties related to harassment, |
21 | intimidation and bullying as requested by the principal or |
22 | school entity antibullying coordinator. |
23 | (4) The members of a school safety team shall be provided |
24 | professional development opportunities that address effective |
25 | practices of successful school climate programs or approaches. |
26 | (d) (1) Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, all |
27 | candidates for teaching certification shall satisfactorily |
28 | complete a program on harassment, intimidation and bullying |
29 | prevention. |
30 | (2) The State Board of Education shall establish the |
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1 | appropriate requirements of the program on harassment, |
2 | intimidation and bullying prevention. |
3 | (3) The Department of Education shall, as part of the |
4 | professional development requirement established by the State |
5 | Board of Education for public school teachers, require each |
6 | public school teacher to complete at least two hours of |
7 | instruction on harassment, intimidation or bullying prevention |
8 | in each professional development period. |
9 | (e) Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, all candidates |
10 | for administrative certification shall satisfactorily complete a |
11 | program on harassment, intimidation and bullying prevention. |
12 | (f) (1) The Department of Education, in consultation with |
13 | the office, shall develop a guidance document for use by parents |
14 | or guardians, students and school entities to assist in |
15 | resolving complaints concerning student harassment, intimidation |
16 | or bullying behaviors by school entities. The document shall |
17 | include: |
18 | (i) A school entity's obligations under section 1301.1-A. |
19 | (ii) Best practices for the prevention, intervention and |
20 | remediation of harassment, intimidation or bullying in schools, |
21 | including methods to identify and assist student populations at |
22 | high risk for harassment, intimidation or bullying. |
23 | (iii) A clear explanation of the procedures for petitioning |
24 | the Secretary of Education to hear and decide disputes |
25 | concerning section 1303.1-A. |
26 | (iv) A clear explanation of the police department's |
27 | jurisdiction and services in regard to specific types of |
28 | harassment, intimidation or bullying. |
29 | (v) A clear explanation of the process for appealing final |
30 | agency determinations to the Commonwealth Court. |
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1 | (2) The guidance document shall be available on the |
2 | Department of Education's Internet website and on every school |
3 | entity's Internet website at an easily accessible location. |
4 | (g) (1) The Secretary of Education shall establish a formal |
5 | protocol pursuant to which the office of the chief school |
6 | administrator shall investigate a complaint that documents an |
7 | allegation of a violation of section 1303.1-A by a school entity |
8 | located within the county, when the complaint has not been |
9 | adequately addressed on the local level. The office of the chief |
10 | school administrator shall report its findings and, if |
11 | appropriate, issue an order for the school entity to develop and |
12 | implement corrective actions that are specific to the facts of |
13 | the case. |
14 | (2) The Secretary of Education shall ensure that the |
15 | personnel of the office of the chief school administrator who |
16 | are responsible for conducting the investigations receive |
17 | training and technical support on the use of the complaint |
18 | investigation protocol. |
19 | (h) (1) The Secretary of Education, in consultation with |
20 | recognized experts in school bullying from a cross-section of |
21 | academia, child advocacy organizations, nonprofit organizations, |
22 | professional associations and government agencies, shall |
23 | establish in-service workshops and training programs to train |
24 | selected public school employes to act as school entity |
25 | antibullying coordinators and school antibullying specialists in |
26 | accordance with the provisions of this section. The secretary |
27 | shall seek to make the workshops and training programs available |
28 | and administered online through the department's Internet |
29 | website or other existing online resources. The secretary shall |
30 | evaluate the effectiveness of the consulting group on an annual |
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1 | basis. The in-service training programs may utilize the offices |
2 | of the executive county superintendent of schools or such other |
3 | institutions, agencies or persons as the secretary deems |
4 | appropriate. Each school entity shall provide time for the in- |
5 | service training during the usual school schedule in order to |
6 | ensure that appropriate personnel are prepared to act in the |
7 | school entity as antibullying coordinators and school |
8 | antibullying specialists. |
9 | (2) Upon completion of the initial in-service training |
10 | program, the Secretary of Education shall ensure that programs |
11 | and workshops that reflect the most current information on |
12 | harassment, intimidation and bullying in schools are prepared |
13 | and made available to school entity antibullying coordinators |
14 | and school antibullying specialists at regular intervals. |
15 | (i) The Secretary of Education shall develop, in |
16 | consultation with the Office of Attorney General, and make |
17 | available on the Department of Education's Internet website, an |
18 | online tutorial on harassment, intimidation and bullying. The |
19 | online tutorial shall, at a minimum, include best practices in |
20 | the prevention of harassment, intimidation and bullying, |
21 | applicable laws and such other information that the secretary |
22 | determines to be appropriate. The online tutorial shall be |
23 | accompanied by a test to assess a person's understanding of the |
24 | information provided in the tutorial. |
25 | (j) There is created a special fund in the Department of |
26 | Education which shall be designated the Bullying Prevention |
27 | Fund. The fund shall be maintained in a separate account and |
28 | administered by the Secretary of Education to carry out the |
29 | provisions of this act. The fund shall consist of: |
30 | (1) Any monies appropriated by the Commonwealth for the |
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1 | purposes of the fund. |
2 | (2) Any monies donated for the purposes of the fund. |
3 | (3) All interest and investment earnings received on monies |
4 | in the fund. |
5 | The fund shall be used to offer grants to school entities to |
6 | provide training on harassment, intimidation and bullying |
7 | prevention and on the effective creation of positive school |
8 | climates. |
9 | (k) Throughout the school year the school entity shall |
10 | provide ongoing age-appropriate instruction on preventing |
11 | harassment, intimidation and bullying in accordance with the |
12 | core curriculum content standards. |
13 | (l) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as |
14 | affecting the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement |
15 | or individual contract of employment. |
16 | (m) (1) A public institution of higher education shall |
17 | adopt a policy to be included in its student code of conduct |
18 | prohibiting harassment, intimidation or bullying. The policy |
19 | shall contain, at a minimum: |
20 | (i) A statement prohibiting harassment, intimidation or |
21 | bullying. |
22 | (ii) Disciplinary actions which may result if a student |
23 | commits an act of harassment, intimidation or bullying. |
24 | (iii) A definition of harassment, intimidation or bullying |
25 | that, at a minimum, includes any gesture, any written, verbal or |
26 | physical act or any electronic communication that is reasonably |
27 | perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived |
28 | characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, |
29 | national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and |
30 | expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or by |
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1 | any other distinguishing characteristic, that takes place on the |
2 | property of the institution of higher education or at any |
3 | function sponsored by the institution of higher education and |
4 | that: |
5 | (A) a reasonable person should know, under the |
6 | circumstances, will have the effect of physically or emotionally |
7 | harming a student or damaging the student's property, or placing |
8 | a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to |
9 | his person or damage to his property; |
10 | (B) has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or |
11 | group of students in such a way as to cause disruption in, or |
12 | interference with, the orderly operation of the institution of |
13 | higher education; |
14 | (C) creates a hostile environment for the student at the |
15 | institution of higher education; or |
16 | (D) infringes on the rights of the student at the |
17 | institution of higher education. |
18 | (2) The institution shall distribute the policy by e-mail to |
19 | each student within seven days of the start of each semester and |
20 | shall post the policy on its Internet website. |
21 | Section 2. This act shall take effect August 1, 2012. |
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