89R5489 AMF-D
	By: Reynolds	H.B. No. 1405

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to bullying and cyberbullying in public schools.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 28.0022, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsections (h) and (i) to read as follows:
	(h)  Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting a
	teacher, administrator, or other employee of a state agency, school
	district, or open-enrollment charter school from:
	(1)  implementing a strategy to prevent or mediate
	specific instances or school-wide cultures of bullying or
	harassment that occur due to a victim's actual or perceived
	religion, disability status, race, ethnicity, color, national
	origin, sex, or association with a person or group with one or more
	of those actual or perceived characteristics, including a strategy
	implemented under a policy adopted under Section 37.0832; or
	(2)  training teachers, administrators, or other
	employees in the implementation of a strategy described by
	Subdivision (1), including by providing staff development under
	Section 21.451.
	(i)  In this section:
	(1)  "Bullying" has the meaning assigned by Section
	37.0832.
	(2)  "Harassment" has the meaning assigned by Section
	37.001.
	SECTION 2.  Section 37.0832(a), Education Code, is amended
	by amending Subdivisions (1) and (2) and adding Subdivision (3) to
	read as follows:
	(1)  "Bullying":
	(A)  means a single significant act or a pattern
	of acts by one or more students directed at another student that
	exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or
	verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or
	physical conduct that satisfies the applicability requirements
	provided by Subsection (a-1), and that:
	(i)  has the effect or will have the effect
	of physically harming a student, damaging a student's property, or
	placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student's person
	or of damage to the student's property;
	(ii)  is sufficiently severe, persistent, or
	pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating,
	threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student;
	(iii)  materially and substantially
	disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a
	classroom or school; [or]
	(iv)  infringes on the rights of the victim
	at school; or
	(v)  targets a victim on the basis of the
	victim's actual or perceived religion, disability status, race,
	ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, or association with a
	person or group with one or more of those actual or perceived
	characteristics; and
	(B)  includes cyberbullying.
	(2)  "Cyberbullying" means bullying that is done
	through the use of any electronic communication device, including
	through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a
	computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text
	messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, an
	application using artificial intelligence, or any other
	Internet-based communication tool.
	(3)  "Harassment" has the meaning assigned by Section
	37.001.
	SECTION 3.  Section 37.0832, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsections (b), (b-1), and (b-2) and amending Subsections
	(c), (c-1), (d), and (e).
	(b)  [(c)] The board of trustees of each school district
	shall adopt a policy, including any necessary procedures,
	concerning bullying that:
	(1)  prohibits the bullying of a student;
	(2)  prevents and mediates bullying incidents between
	students that:
	(A)  interfere with a student's educational
	opportunities; or
	(B)  substantially disrupt the orderly operation
	of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related
	activity;
	(3)  prohibits retaliation against any person,
	including a victim, a witness, or another person, who in good faith
	provides information concerning an incident of bullying;
	(4)  requires a school district employee who, in the
	course and scope of employment, witnesses or receives information
	regarding an incident that the employee reasonably believes
	constitutes bullying by or against a student who at the time of the
	incident is enrolled in the district at which the employee is
	employed to report the information to a campus behavior coordinator
	or other appropriate district official;
	(5)  [(4)] establishes a procedure for providing notice
	of an incident of bullying to:
	(A)  a parent or guardian of the alleged victim on
	or before the third business day after the date the incident is
	reported; and
	(B)  a parent or guardian of the student alleged
	to have engaged in bullying [bully] within a reasonable amount of
	time after the incident;
	(6)  [(5)] establishes the actions a student should
	take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying;
	(7)  [(6)] sets out the supportive measures provided by
	the district under Subsection (b-1) and available to [available
	counseling options for] a student who is impacted by bullying,
	including the alleged [a] victim of bullying, a student who
	allegedly engaged in bullying, or a witness to bullying [or who
	engages in bullying];
	(8)  [(7)] establishes procedures for reporting an
	incident of bullying, including procedures for a student to
	anonymously report an incident of bullying;
	(9)  establishes procedures for[,] investigating a
	reported incident of bullying, and determining whether the reported
	incident of bullying occurred, which must include:
	(A)  the provision of written notice of the
	investigation or a reported incident of bullying to the impacted
	students, including a victim of bullying and a student who
	allegedly engaged in bullying, and the parents or guardians of
	those students;
	(B)  the provision of supportive measures under
	Subsection (b-1) to the impacted students throughout the
	investigation;
	(C)  an opportunity for the impacted students to
	identify witnesses and provide information and evidence relating to
	the reported incident of bullying;
	(D)  the issuance of an investigative report that
	includes a summary of evidence considered, the investigator's
	determination as to whether the reported incident occurred and, if
	so, the student or students responsible for the incident, and the
	rationale for those determinations;
	(E)  an opportunity for each impacted student and
	that student's parent or guardian to review and comment on the
	investigative report required under Paragraph (D) before the report
	is finalized; and
	(F)  an opportunity for each impacted student to
	appeal a determination of the investigator;
	(10)  requires investigations conducted under the
	procedures established under Subdivision (9) to be completed not
	later than the 10th business day after the district receives a
	report of bullying submitted under the procedures established under
	Subdivision (8), unless the time period is extended for good cause
	and a written notice of the extension and rationale is provided to
	impacted students and those students' parents or guardians;
	(11)  [(8)] prohibits the imposition of a disciplinary
	measure on a student who, after an investigation, is found to be a
	victim of bullying, on the basis of that student's use of reasonable
	self-defense in response to the bullying;
	(12)  [(9)] requires that discipline for bullying of a
	student with disabilities comply with applicable requirements
	under federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities
	Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.); and
	(13)  [(10)] complies with the minimum standards
	adopted by the agency under Subsection (c) [(c-1)].
	(b-1)  The board of trustees of each school district shall
	provide to a student impacted by bullying supportive measures that
	are not disciplinary or punitive and are individualized to the
	student.  Measures provided under this subsection shall be designed
	to:
	(1)  protect the safety of all students, teachers, and
	other school staff in the district; and
	(2)  ensure a student impacted by bullying has
	continued access to the school's educational program, including the
	student's normal instructional lessons and extracurricular
	activities, and may include:
	(A)  counseling;
	(B)  the extension of a deadline for turning in
	coursework or other instruction-related adjustments;
	(C)  modifications to a class schedule;
	(D)  requiring an employee of the district to
	escort a student while the student is on a district campus;
	(E)  a transfer under Section 25.0342;
	(F)  mutual restrictions on contact between
	students impacted by an incident of bullying; and
	(G)  other similar measures.
	(b-2)  A school district must provide supportive measures
	under Subsection (b-1):
	(1)  without fee or charge; and
	(2)  regardless of whether the student elects to
	participate in an investigation conducted under the procedures
	established under Subsection (b)(9).
	(c)  [(c-1)] The agency shall adopt minimum standards for a
	school district's policy under Subsection (b) [(c)].  The standards
	must:
	(1)  include an emphasis on bullying prevention by
	focusing on school climate, [and] building healthy relationships
	between students and staff, and engaging in dialogue to create a
	culture of understanding and respect;
	(2)  require each district campus to establish a
	committee to address bullying by focusing on prevention efforts and
	health and wellness initiatives;
	(3)  require students at each grade level to meet
	periodically for instruction on building relationships and
	preventing bullying, including cyberbullying;
	(4)  include an emphasis on increasing student
	reporting of bullying incidents to school employees by:
	(A)  increasing awareness about district
	reporting procedures; and
	(B)  providing for anonymous reporting of
	bullying incidents;
	(5)  require districts to:
	(A)  collect information annually through student
	surveys on bullying, including cyberbullying; and
	(B)  use those survey results to develop action
	plans to address student concerns regarding bullying, including
	cyberbullying; and
	(6)  require districts to develop a rubric or checklist
	to assess an incident of bullying and to determine the district's
	response to the incident.
	(d)  The policy and any necessary procedures adopted under
	Subsection (b) [(c)] must be included:
	(1)  annually, in the student and employee school
	district handbooks; and
	(2)  in the district improvement plan under Section
	11.252.
	(e)  The procedure for reporting bullying established under
	Subsection (b) [(c)] must be posted on the district's Internet
	website to the extent practicable.
	SECTION 4.  Section 48.009(b-4), Education Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(b-4)  The commissioner by rule shall require each school
	district and open-enrollment charter school to annually report
	through the Public Education Information Management System the
	number of reported incidents of bullying that have occurred at each
	campus. The commissioner's rules shall require a district or
	school to specify the number of incidents of bullying that:
	(1)  included cyberbullying; or
	(2)  targeted a victim based on the victim's actual or
	perceived religion, disability status, race, ethnicity, color,
	national origin, sex, or association with a person or group with one
	or more of those actual or perceived characteristics.
	SECTION 5.  Not later than 45 days after the effective date
	of this Act, the Texas Education Agency shall adopt or revise
	minimum standards as necessary to comply with Section 37.0832(c),
	Education Code, as amended by this Act.
	SECTION 6.  This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
	school year.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.