Bill Text: TX HB498 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to policies and procedures for addressing bullying and harassment in public schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-23 - Referred to Youth Health & Safety, Select [HB498 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB498-Introduced.html

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88R2174 MEW-D
By: Meza H.B. No. 498

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to policies and procedures for addressing bullying and
harassment in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.104(b), Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 542 (S.B. 168), 887 (S.B. 1697), 915 (H.B. 3607), 974 (S.B.
2081), and 1046 (S.B. 1365), Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(b) An open-enrollment charter school is subject to:
(1) a provision of this title establishing a criminal
offense;
(2) the provisions in Chapter 554, Government Code;
and
(3) a prohibition, restriction, or requirement, as
applicable, imposed by this title or a rule adopted under this
title, relating to:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS) to the extent necessary to monitor compliance with
this subchapter as determined by the commissioner;
(B) criminal history records under Subchapter C,
Chapter 22;
(C) reading instruments and accelerated reading
instruction programs under Section 28.006;
(D) accelerated instruction under Section
28.0211;
(E) high school graduation requirements under
Section 28.025;
(F) special education programs under Subchapter
A, Chapter 29;
(G) bilingual education under Subchapter B,
Chapter 29;
(H) prekindergarten programs under Subchapter E
or E-1, Chapter 29, except class size limits for prekindergarten
classes imposed under Section 25.112, which do not apply;
(I) extracurricular activities under Section
33.081;
(J) discipline management practices or behavior
management techniques under Section 37.0021;
(K) health and safety under Chapter 38;
(L) the provisions of Subchapter A, Chapter 39;
(M) public school accountability and special
investigations under Subchapters A, B, C, D, F, G, and J, Chapter
39, and Chapter 39A;
(N) the requirement under Section 21.006 to
report an educator's misconduct;
(O) intensive programs of instruction under
Section 28.0213;
(P) the right of a school employee to report a
crime, as provided by Section 37.148;
(Q) bullying and harassment prevention policies
and procedures under Section 37.0832;
(R) the right of a school under Section 37.0052
to place a student who has engaged in certain bullying behavior in a
disciplinary alternative education program or to expel the student;
(S) the right under Section 37.0151 to report to
local law enforcement certain conduct constituting assault or
harassment;
(T) a parent's right to information regarding the
provision of assistance for learning difficulties to the parent's
child as provided by Sections 26.004(b)(11) and 26.0081(c) and (d);
(U) establishment of residency under Section
25.001;
(V) school safety requirements under Sections
37.108, 37.1081, 37.1082, 37.109, 37.113, 37.114, 37.1141, 37.115,
37.207, and 37.2071;
(W) the early childhood literacy and mathematics
proficiency plans under Section 11.185;
(X) the college, career, and military readiness
plans under Section 11.186; and
(Y) [(X)] parental options to retain a student
under Section 28.02124.
SECTION 2. Section 33.006(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) In addition to a school counselor's responsibility
under Subsection (a), the school counselor shall:
(1) participate in planning, implementing, and
evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve
all students and to address the special needs of students:
(A) who are at risk of dropping out of school,
becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or
committing suicide;
(B) who are in need of modified instructional
strategies; or
(C) who are gifted and talented, with emphasis on
identifying and serving gifted and talented students who are
educationally disadvantaged;
(2) consult with a student's parent or guardian and
make referrals as appropriate in consultation with the student's
parent or guardian;
(3) consult with school staff, parents, and other
community members to help them increase the effectiveness of
student education and promote student success;
(4) coordinate people and resources in the school,
home, and community;
(5) with the assistance of school staff, interpret
standardized test results and other assessment data that help a
student make educational and career plans;
(6) deliver classroom guidance activities or serve as
a consultant to teachers conducting lessons based on the school's
guidance curriculum; and
(7) serve as an impartial, nonreporting resource for
interpersonal conflicts and discord involving two or more students,
including accusations of bullying or harassment under Section
37.0832.
SECTION 3. Section 37.0832, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.0832. BULLYING AND HARASSMENT PREVENTION POLICIES
AND PROCEDURES. (a) In this section:
(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; 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, or any
other Internet-based communication tool.
(3) "Harassment" has the meaning assigned by Section
37.001.
(a-1) This section applies to:
(1) bullying or harassment that occurs on or is
delivered to school property or to the site of a school-sponsored or
school-related activity on or off school property;
(2) bullying or harassment that occurs on a publicly
or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for
transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored
or school-related activity; and
(3) cyberbullying that occurs off school property or
outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the
cyberbullying:
(A) interferes with a student's educational
opportunities; or
(B) substantially disrupts the orderly operation
of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related
activity.
(b) Conduct that constitutes bullying or harassment may
include conduct that occurs due to:
(1) another student's actual or perceived race, color,
national origin, sex, disability status, sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, or religion;
(2) a distinguishing characteristic of another
student; or
(3) a student's association with a person or group with
one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics described by
Subdivisions (1) and (2).
(c) The board of trustees of each school district shall
adopt a policy, including any necessary procedures, concerning
bullying and harassment that:
(1) prohibits the bullying or harassment of a student;
(2) prevents and mediates bullying or harassment
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 or
harassment;
(4) establishes a procedure for providing notice,
while considering the circumstances of the incident and ensuring
the safety and well-being of the student, of an incident of bullying
or harassment 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 alleged bully or
harasser within a reasonable amount of time after the incident;
(5) establishes the actions a student should take to
obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying or
harassment;
(6) sets out the available counseling options for a
student who is a victim of or a witness to bullying or harassment or
who engages in bullying or harassment;
(7) establishes procedures for reporting an incident
of bullying or harassment, including procedures for a student to
anonymously report an incident of bullying or harassment, promptly
investigating a reported incident of bullying or harassment, and
determining whether the reported incident of bullying or harassment
occurred;
(8) specifies that no remedial action may be taken
solely on the basis of an anonymous report of an incident of
bullying or harassment;
(9) prohibits the imposition of a disciplinary measure
on a student who, after an investigation, is found to be a victim of
bullying or harassment, on the basis of that student's use of
reasonable self-defense in response to the bullying or harassment;
(10) [(9)] requires that discipline for bullying or
harassment 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
(11) [(10)] complies with the minimum standards
adopted by the agency under Subsection (c-1).
(c-1) The agency shall adopt minimum standards for a school
district's policy under Subsection (c). The standards must:
(1) include an emphasis on bullying and harassment
prevention by focusing on school climate and building healthy
relationships between students and staff;
(2) require each district campus to establish a
committee to address bullying and harassment 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, and harassment;
(4) include an emphasis on increasing student
reporting of bullying or harassment incidents to school employees
by:
(A) increasing awareness about district
reporting procedures; and
(B) providing for anonymous reporting of
bullying or harassment incidents;
(5) require districts to:
(A) collect information annually through student
surveys on bullying, including cyberbullying, and harassment; and
(B) use those survey results to develop action
plans to address student concerns regarding bullying, including
cyberbullying, and harassment; and
(6) require districts to develop a rubric or checklist
to assess an incident of bullying or harassment and to determine the
district's response to the incident.
(d) The policy and any necessary procedures adopted under
Subsection (c) must be included:
(1) annually, in the student and employee school
district handbooks and as part of any new employee training
materials; and
(2) in the district improvement plan under Section
11.252.
(e) The procedure for reporting bullying or harassment
established under Subsection (c) must be posted on the district's
Internet website to the extent practicable.
SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, each school district shall adopt a policy concerning
bullying and harassment as required by Section 37.0832(c),
Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 5. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
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, 2023.