Connecticut 2020 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB05145 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
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3	3	LCO No. 953 1 of 7
4	4
5	5	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5145
6	6	February Session, 2020
7	7	LCO No. 953
8	8
9	9
10	10	Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
11	11
12	12
13	13	Introduced by:
14	14	(KID)
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19	19	AN ACT CONCERNING TH E ANNUAL REPORTING O F THE NUMBER
20	20	OF VERIFIED ACTS OF BULLYING IN SCHOOLS.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
22	22	Assembly convened:
23	23
24	24	Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 10-222d of the 2020 supplement to 1
25	25	the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
26	26	thereof (Effective July 1, 2020): 3
27	27	(b) Each local and regional board of education shall develop and 4
28	28	implement a safe school climate plan to address the existence of bullying 5
29	29	and teen dating violence in its schools. Such plan shall: (1) Enable 6
30	30	students to anonymously report acts of bullying to school employees 7
31	31	and require students and the parents or guardians of students to be 8
32	32	notified at the beginning of each school year of the process by which 9
33	33	students may make such reports, (2) enable the parents or guardians of 10
34	34	students to file written reports of suspected bullying, (3) require school 11
35	35	employees who witness acts of bullying or receive reports of bullying to 12
36	36	orally notify the safe school climate specialist, described in section 10-13
37	37	222k, or another school administrator if the safe school climate specialist 14
38	38	is unavailable, not later than one school day after such school employee 15 Raised Bill No. 5145
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40	40
41	41
42	42	LCO No. 953 2 of 7
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44	44	witnesses or receives a report of bullying, and to file a written report not 16
45	45	later than two school days after making such oral report, (4) require the 17
46	46	safe school climate specialist to investigate or supervise the 18
47	47	investigation of all reports of bullying and ensure that such 19
48	48	investigation is completed promptly after receipt of any written reports 20
49	49	made under this section and that the parents or guardians of the student 21
50	50	alleged to have committed an act or acts of bullying and the parents or 22
51	51	guardians of the student against whom such alleged act or acts were 23
52	52	directed receive prompt notice that such investigation has commenced, 24
53	53	(5) require the safe school climate specialist to review any anonymous 25
54	54	reports, except that no disciplinary action shall be taken solely on the 26
55	55	basis of an anonymous report, (6) include a prevention and intervention 27
56	56	strategy, as defined by section 10-222g, for school employees to deal 28
57	57	with bullying and teen dating violence, (7) provide for the inclusion of 29
58	58	language in student codes of conduct concerning bullying, (8) require 30
59	59	each school to notify the parents or guardians of students who commit 31
60	60	any verified acts of bullying and the parents or guardians of students 32
61	61	against whom such acts were directed not later than forty-eight hours 33
62	62	after the completion of the investigation described in subdivision (4) of 34
63	63	this subsection, (9) require each school to invite the parents or guardians 35
64	64	of a student against whom such act was directed to a meeting to 36
65	65	communicate to such parents or guardians the measures being taken by 37
66	66	the school to ensure the safety of the student against whom such act was 38
67	67	directed and policies and procedures in place to prevent further acts of 39
68	68	bullying, (10) require each school to invite the parents or guardians of a 40
69	69	student who commits any verified act of bullying to a meeting, separate 41
70	70	and distinct from the meeting required in subdivision (9) of this 42
71	71	subsection, to discuss specific interventions undertaken by the school to 43
72	72	prevent further acts of bullying, (11) establish a procedure for each 44
73	73	school to document and maintain records relating to reports and 45
74	74	investigations of bullying in such school and to maintain a list of the 46
75	75	number of verified acts of bullying in such school and make such list 47
76	76	available for public inspection, [and annually report such number to the 48
77	77	Department of Education, and in such manner as prescribed by the 49
78	78	Commissioner of Education,] (12) direct the development of case-by-50 Raised Bill No. 5145
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80	80
81	81
82	82	LCO No. 953 3 of 7
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84	84	case interventions for addressing repeated incidents of bullying against 51
85	85	a single individual or recurrently perpetrated bullying incidents by the 52
86	86	same individual that may include both counseling and discipline, (13) 53
87	87	prohibit discrimination and retaliation against an individual who 54
88	88	reports or assists in the investigation of an act of bullying, (14) direct the 55
89	89	development of student safety support plans for students against whom 56
90	90	an act of bullying was directed that address safety measures the school 57
91	91	will take to protect such students against further acts of bullying, (15) 58
92	92	require the principal of a school, or the principal's designee, to notify the 59
93	93	appropriate local law enforcement agency when such principal, or the 60
94	94	principal's designee, believes that any acts of bullying constitute 61
95	95	criminal conduct, (16) prohibit bullying (A) on school grounds, at a 62
96	96	school-sponsored or school-related activity, function or program 63
97	97	whether on or off school grounds, at a school bus stop, on a school bus 64
98	98	or other vehicle owned, leased or used by a local or regional board of 65
99	99	education, or through the use of an electronic device or an electronic 66
100	100	mobile device owned, leased or used by the local or regional board of 67
101	101	education, and (B) outside of the school setting if such bullying (i) 68
102	102	creates a hostile environment at school for the student against whom 69
103	103	such bullying was directed, or (ii) infringes on the rights of the student 70
104	104	against whom such bullying was directed at school, or (iii) substantially 71
105	105	disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school, (17) 72
106	106	require, at the beginning of each school year, each school to provide all 73
107	107	school employees with a written or electronic copy of the school 74
108	108	district's safe school climate plan, and (18) require that all school 75
109	109	employees annually complete the training described in section 10-220a 76
110	110	or section 10-222j. The notification required pursuant to subdivision (8) 77
111	111	of this subsection and the invitation required pursuant to subdivision 78
112	112	(9) of this subsection shall include a description of the response of school 79
113	113	employees to such acts and any consequences that may result from the 80
114	114	commission of further acts of bullying. 81
115	115	Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 10-222d of the 2020 supplement to the 82
116	116	general statutes, as amended by section 3 of public act 19-166, is 83
117	117	repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 84 Raised Bill No. 5145
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119	119
120	120
121	121	LCO No. 953 4 of 7
122	122
123	123	2021): 85
124	124	(b) Each local and regional board of education shall develop and 86
125	125	implement a safe school climate plan to address the existence of bullying 87
126	126	and teen dating violence in its schools. Such plan shall: (1) Enable 88
127	127	students to anonymously report acts of bullying to school employees 89
128	128	and require students and the parents or guardians of students to be 90
129	129	notified at the beginning of each school year of the process by which 91
130	130	students may make such reports, (2) enable the parents or guardians of 92
131	131	students to file written reports of suspected bullying, (3) require school 93
132	132	employees who witness acts of bullying or receive reports of bullying to 94
133	133	orally notify the safe school climate specialist, described in section 10-95
134	134	222k, or another school administrator if the safe school climate specialist 96
135	135	is unavailable, not later than one school day after such school employee 97
136	136	witnesses or receives a report of bullying, and to file a written report not 98
137	137	later than two school days after making such oral report, (4) require the 99
138	138	safe school climate specialist to investigate or supervise the 100
139	139	investigation of all reports of bullying and ensure that such 101
140	140	investigation is completed promptly after receipt of any written reports 102
141	141	made under this section and that the parents or guardians of the student 103
142	142	alleged to have committed an act or acts of bullying and the parents or 104
143	143	guardians of the student against whom such alleged act or acts were 105
144	144	directed receive prompt notice that such investigation has commenced, 106
145	145	(5) require the safe school climate specialist to review any anonymous 107
146	146	reports, except that no disciplinary action shall be taken solely on the 108
147	147	basis of an anonymous report, (6) include a prevention and intervention 109
148	148	strategy, as defined by section 10-222g, for school employees to deal 110
149	149	with bullying and teen dating violence, (7) provide for the inclusion of 111
150	150	language in student codes of conduct concerning bullying, (8) require 112
151	151	each school to notify the parents or guardians of students who commit 113
152	152	any verified acts of bullying and the parents or guardians of students 114
153	153	against whom such acts were directed not later than forty-eight hours 115
154	154	after the completion of the investigation described in subdivision (4) of 116
155	155	this subsection (A) of the results of such investigation, and (B) verbally 117
156	156	and by electronic mail, if such parents' or guardians' electronic mail 118 Raised Bill No. 5145
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158	158
159	159
160	160	LCO No. 953 5 of 7
161	161
162	162	addresses are known, that such parents or guardians may refer to the 119
163	163	plain language explanation of the rights and remedies available under 120
164	164	sections 10-4a and 10-4b published on the Internet web site of the local 121
165	165	or regional board of education pursuant to section 10-222r, (9) require 122
166	166	each school to invite the parents or guardians of a student against whom 123
167	167	such act was directed to a meeting to communicate to such parents or 124
168	168	guardians the measures being taken by the school to ensure the safety 125
169	169	of the student against whom such act was directed and policies and 126
170	170	procedures in place to prevent further acts of bullying, (10) require each 127
171	171	school to invite the parents or guardians of a student who commits any 128
172	172	verified act of bullying to a meeting, separate and distinct from the 129
173	173	meeting required in subdivision (9) of this subsection, to discuss specific 130
174	174	interventions undertaken by the school to prevent further acts of 131
175	175	bullying, (11) establish a procedure for each school to document and 132
176	176	maintain records relating to reports and investigations of bullying in 133
177	177	such school and to maintain a list of the number of verified acts of 134
178	178	bullying in such school and make such list available for public 135
179	179	inspection, [and annually report such number to the Department of 136
180	180	Education, and in such manner as prescribed by the Commissioner of 137
181	181	Education,] (12) direct the development of case-by-case interventions 138
182	182	for addressing repeated incidents of bullying against a single individual 139
183	183	or recurrently perpetrated bullying incidents by the same individual 140
184	184	that may include both counseling and discipline, (13) prohibit 141
185	185	discrimination and retaliation against an individual who reports or 142
186	186	assists in the investigation of an act of bullying, (14) direct the 143
187	187	development of student safety support plans for students against whom 144
188	188	an act of bullying was directed that address safety measures the school 145
189	189	will take to protect such students against further acts of bullying, (15) 146
190	190	require the principal of a school, or the principal's designee, to notify the 147
191	191	appropriate local law enforcement agency when such principal, or the 148
192	192	principal's designee, believes that any acts of bullying constitute 149
193	193	criminal conduct, (16) prohibit bullying (A) on school grounds, at a 150
194	194	school-sponsored or school-related activity, function or program 151
195	195	whether on or off school grounds, at a school bus stop, on a school bus 152
196	196	or other vehicle owned, leased or used by a local or regional board of 153 Raised Bill No. 5145
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198	198
199	199
200	200	LCO No. 953 6 of 7
201	201
202	202	education, or through the use of an electronic device or an electronic 154
203	203	mobile device owned, leased or used by the local or regional board of 155
204	204	education, and (B) outside of the school setting if such bullying (i) 156
205	205	creates a hostile environment at school for the student against whom 157
206	206	such bullying was directed, or (ii) infringes on the rights of the student 158
207	207	against whom such bullying was directed at school, or (iii) substantially 159
208	208	disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school, (17) 160
209	209	require, at the beginning of each school year, each school to provide all 161
210	210	school employees with a written or electronic copy of the school 162
211	211	district's safe school climate plan, and (18) require that all school 163
212	212	employees annually complete the training described in section 10-220a 164
213	213	or section 10-222j. The notification required pursuant to subdivision (8) 165
214	214	of this subsection and the invitation required pursuant to subdivision 166
215	215	(9) of this subsection shall include a description of the response of school 167
216	216	employees to such acts and any consequences that may result from the 168
217	217	commission of further acts of bullying. 169
218	218	Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 10-222h of the general statutes is 170
219	219	repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 171
220	220	2020): 172
221	221	(b) On or before February 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the 173
222	222	department shall, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, 174
223	223	submit a report on the status of its efforts pursuant to this section 175
224	224	including, but not limited to, [the number of verified acts of bullying in 176
225	225	the state,] an analysis of the responsive action taken by school districts, 177
226	226	an analysis of student responses on the uniform grade-level appropriate 178
227	227	questions described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (4) of 179
228	228	subsection (a) of this section and any recommendations it may have 180
229	229	regarding additional activities or funding to prevent bullying in schools 181
230	230	and improve school climate to the joint standing committees of the 182
231	231	General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education 183
232	232	and children and to the speaker of the House of Representatives, the 184
233	233	president pro tempore of the Senate and the majority and minority 185
234	234	leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate. 186 Raised Bill No. 5145
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237	237
238	238	LCO No. 953 7 of 7
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240	240	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
241	241	sections:
242	242
243	243	Section 1 July 1, 2020 10-222d(b)
244	244	Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 10-222d(b)
245	245	Sec. 3 July 1, 2020 10-222h(b)
246	246
247	247	Statement of Purpose:
248	248	To eliminate the requirement that each school under the jurisdiction of
249	249	a local or regional board of education annually report the number of
250	250	verified acts of bullying in such school to the Department of Education.
251	251	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
252	252	that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
253	253	underlined.]
254	254