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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2663 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 591 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Danielle W. Gregoire |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to school bullying. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Danielle W. Gregoire4th Middlesex1/16/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2663 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 591 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Gregoire of Marlborough, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 591) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Danielle W. Gregoire relative to school bullying. Education. |
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| 20 | 20 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 3754 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to school bullying. |
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| 28 | 28 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 29 | 29 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 1B of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3 The board shall see to it that all schools provide the board with a copy of the updated plan |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4to address bullying prevention and intervention under subsection (d) of section 37O of chapter |
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| 34 | 34 | | 571. In the event of noncompliance, the board and the commissioner may use all powers |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6established under this section to ensure schools provide the board with a copy of the updated |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7plan under said subsection (d) of said section 37O. |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8 SECTION 2. Paragraph (1) of subsection (d) of section 37O of chapter 71 of the General |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9Laws, as so appearing , is hereby amended by striking out the third and fourth sentences and |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- The consultation shall include, but not be 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11limited to: (i) notice that shall be posted, with a draft copy of the updated plan, in a conspicuous |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12place or places on the school’s premises and on the school’s website; (ii) a public comment |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13period that shall accept written comments on the updated plan, submitted by any interested |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14person, within 30 days of the posted notice; provided, however, that a non-public school shall |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15only be required to give notice to and provide a comment period for families that have a child |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16attending the school; and (iii) if no plan is currently in place, prior to the development of the plan |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17there shall be a public comment period accepting written comments on the development of the |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18original plan, submitted by any interested person and upon completion of the original plan the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19school shall follow the steps in clauses (i) and (ii). The school shall consider all relevant |
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| 49 | 49 | | 20comments and suggestions before finalizing the plan and subsequent updates to the plan. The |
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| 50 | 50 | | 21plan shall be updated every 2 years and a copy of the updated plan shall be submitted to the |
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| 51 | 51 | | 22board within 30 days of the completed updates. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 23 SECTION 3. Said section 37O of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further |
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| 53 | 53 | | 24amended by inserting after the word “retaliation”, in line 272, the following words:- , including |
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| 54 | 54 | | 25incidents that result in students being suspended or expelled. |
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| 55 | 55 | | 26 SECTION 4. Subsection (n) of said section 37O of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is |
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| 56 | 56 | | 27hereby further amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the |
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| 57 | 57 | | 28following sentence:- The department shall investigate certain alleged incidents of bullying, |
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| 58 | 58 | | 29within a 2 year period of the alleged incidents. |
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