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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 222 By: Standridge of the Senate
and
Pae, Rosecrants and Echols
of the House
An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2011,
Section 24-100.3, as amended by Section 2, Chapter
311, O.S.L. 2013 (70 O.S. Supp. 2020, Section 24 -
100.3), which relates to definitions under the School
Safety and Bullying Prevention Act; modifying
definitions; amending 70 O.S. 2011, Secti on 24-100.4,
as last amended by Section 1, Chapter 277, O.S.L.
2016 (70 O.S. Supp. 2020, Section 24 -100.4), which
relates to the control and discipline of a child;
requiring certain policy to be updated annually;
modifying who can report incidents of bully ing;
requiring anonymous reports to be investigated in
certain manner; providing immunity from a cause of
action for certain individuals making certain reports
of bullying; requiring notification of the parents or
legal guardians of certain students within certain
time period of receiving a report of bullying;
requiring immediate notification of the parents or
legal guardians of certain students who express
certain thoughts or intentions; requiring certain
policy to contain a statement prohibiting retaliati on
against certain school employees; requiring a
district board of education to hold certain public
hearing prior to adoption of certain policy and any
modifications to certain policy; providing for notice
of hearing; requiring submission of certain policy to
the State Board of Education within certain time
period; requiring a superintendent to submit certain
report to a district board of education at least once
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each semester; requiring a district board of
education to provide certain policy and explanation
to employees and newly hired employees; providing an
effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2011, Section 24 -100.3, as
amended by Section 2, Chapter 311, O.S.L. 2013 (70 O.S. Supp. 2020,
Section 24-100.3), is amended to read as follows:
Section 24-100.3. A. As used in the School Safety and Bullying
Prevention Act:
1. “Bullying” means any pattern of harassment, intimidation,
threatening behavior, physical acts, verbal or unwanted, aggressive
behavior committed in person or by electronic communication directed
toward a student or group of students :
a. that results in or is reasonably perceived as being
done with the intent to cause negativ e educational or
physical results for the targeted individual or group
and is communicated in such a way as to disrupt or
interfere with the school ’s educational mission or the
education of any student , and
b. that involves a power imbalance and is repeate d or is
highly likely to be repeated.
Bullying actions shall include, but not be limited to,
harassment, intimidation, threatening behavior, spreading rumors,
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attacking someone physically or verbally and excluding someone from
a group as a means of causing harm;
2. “At school” “On school premises” means on school grounds, in
school vehicles, at school -sponsored activities , or at school-
sanctioned events;
3. “Electronic communication ” means the communication of any
written, verbal, pictorial information or video content by means of
an electronic device , including, but not limited to, a telephone, a
mobile or cellular telephone or other wireless telecommunication
device, or a computer; and
4. “Threatening behavior ” means any pattern of behavior or
isolated action, whether or not it is directed at another person,
that a reasonable person would believe indicates potential for
future harm to students, school personnel , or school property.
B. Nothing in this act Section 24-100.1 et seq. of this title
shall be construed to impose a specific liability on any school
district.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2011, Section 24 -100.4, as
last amended by Section 1, Chapter 277, O.S.L. 2016 (70 O.S. Supp.
2020, Section 24-100.4), is amended to rea d as follows:
Section 24-100.4. A. Each district board of education shall
adopt a policy for the discipline of all children attending public
school in that district, and for the investigation of reported
incidents of bullying. The policy shall be updated annually and
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shall provide options for the discipline of the students and shall
define standards of conduct to which students are expected to
conform. The policy shall:
1. Specifically address bullying by students at school on
school premises and by electronic communication, if the
communication is specifically directed at students or school
personnel and concerns bullying at school is communicated in such a
way as to disrupt or interfere with the school ’s educational mission
or the education of any stu dent;
2. Contain a procedure for reporting a student, a school
employee, a school volunteer or a parent or legal guardian to report
an act of bullying to a school official or law enforcement agency ,
including a provision that permits a person to report an act
anonymously. No formal disciplinary action shall be taken solely on
the basis of an anonymous report ; provided, anonymous reports shall
be investigated in the same manner as other reports ;
3. Contain a requirement that any school employee that has
reliable information that would lead a reasonable person to suspect
that a person is a target of bullying shall immediately report it to
the principal or a designee of the principal . A school employee,
school volunteer, student or the parent or legal guard ian of a
student who promptly reports in good faith an incident of bullying
to a school official and who makes the report in compliance with the
provisions of this section shall be immune from a cause of action
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for damages arising out of the reporting itse lf or any failure to
remedy the reported incident of bullying ;
4. Contain a statement of how the policy is to be publicized
including a requirement that:
a. an annual written notice of the policy be provided to
parents, legal guardians, staff, volunteers and
students, with age-appropriate language for students,
b. notice of the policy be posted at various locations
within each school site , including, but not limited
to, cafeterias, school bulletin boards , and
administration offices,
c. the policy be posted on the Internet website for the
school district and each school site that has an
Internet website, and
d. the policy be included in all student and employee
handbooks;
5. Require that appropriate school district personnel involved
in investigating report s of bullying make a determination regarding
whether the conduct is actually occurring;
6. Contain a procedure and requirement for providing
notification to the parents or legal guardians of the reported
victim of bullying and the parents or legal guardia ns of the
reported perpetrator of the bullying within twenty -four (24) hours
of receipt of the report of bullying and providing timely
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notification to the parents or legal guardians of a victim of
documented and verified bullying and to the parents or legal
guardians of the perpetrator of the documented and verified
bullying; provided, if a student expresses suicidal thoughts or
intentions or encourages another student to commit suicide, the
parents or legal guardians of the student(s) shall be notified
immediately;
7. Identify by job title the school official responsible for
enforcing the policy at each school site within a school district ;
8. Contain procedures for reporting to law enforcement all
documented and verified acts of bullying which may consti tute
criminal activity or reasonably have the potential to endanger
school safety;
9. Require annual training for administrators and school
employees including school resource officers, as developed and
provided by the State Department of Education in pre venting,
identifying, responding to and reporting incidents of bullying;
10. Provide for an educational program as designed and
developed by the State Department of Education and in consultation
with the Office of Juvenile Affairs for students and parents in
preventing, identifying, responding to and reporting incidents of
bullying;
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11. Establish a procedure for referral of a person who commits
an act of bullying to a delinquency prevention and diversion program
administered by the Office of Juvenile Affa irs;
12. Address prevention by providing:
a. consequences and remedial action for a person who
commits an act of bullying,
b. consequences and remedial action for a student found
to have falsely accused another as a means of
retaliation, reprisal or as a means of bullying, and
c. a strategy for providing counseling or referral to
appropriate services , including guidance, academic
intervention, and other protection for students, both
targets and perpetrators, and family members affected
by bullying, as nece ssary;
13. Establish a procedure for:
a. the investigation, determination and documentation of
all incidents of bullying reported to school
officials,
b. identifying the principal or a designee of the
principal as the person responsible for investigating
incidents of bullying,
c. reporting the number of incidents of bullying, and
d. determining the severity of the incidents and their
potential to result in future violence;
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14. Establish a procedure whereby, upon completing an
investigation of bullying, a school may recommend that available
community mental health care, substance abuse or other counseling
options be provided to the student, if appropriate; and
15. Establish a procedure whereby a school may request the
disclosure of any information concerni ng students who have received
mental health, substance abuse , or other care pursuant to paragraph
14 of this subsection that indicates an explicit threat to the
safety of students or school personnel, provided the disclosure of
the information does not vio late the requirements and provisions of
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Section 2503
of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, Section 1376 of Title 59 of
the Oklahoma Statutes, or any other state or federal laws regarding
the disclosure of confidential information ; and
16. Contain a statement prohibiting retaliation against a
school employee who notifies the district board of education or the
State Department of Education of noncompliance with the provisions
of this section.
B. 1. In developing the policy, the district board of
education shall make an effort to involve the teachers, parents,
administrators, school staff, school volunteers, community
representatives, local law enforcement agencies and students.
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2. Before adopting the policy required by this section or any
modifications to the policy, the district board of education shall
hold at least one public hearing on the proposed policy or
modifications to the policy . The public hearing may be held as part
of a regularly scheduled board meeting. The district board of
education shall provide notice of the public hearing to students and
the parents or legal guardians of students using social media and at
least one other communication method regularly used by the board of
education.
3. Within thirty (30) days of approving the policy required by
this section and any modifications, the district board of education
shall submit a copy to the State Department of Education.
4. The students, teachers , and parents or guardian legal
guardians of every child residing within a school district shall be
notified by the district board of education of its adoption of the
policy and shall receive a copy upon request. The school distr ict
policy shall be implemented in a manner that is ongoing throughout
the school year and is integrated with other violence prevention
efforts.
C. The teacher of a child attending a public school shall have
the same right as a parent or legal guardian to control and
discipline such child according to district policies during the time
the child is in attendance or in transit to or from the school or
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any other school function authorized by the school district or
classroom presided over by the teacher.
D. Except concerning students on individualized education plans
(IEP) pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), P.L. No. 101 -476, the State Board of Education shall not
have authority to prescribe student disciplinary policies for sch ool
districts or to proscribe corporal punishment in the public schools.
The State Board of Education shall not have authority to require
school districts to file student disciplinary action reports more
often than once each year and shall not use discipl inary action
reports in determining a school district ’s or school site’s
eligibility for program assistance including competitive grants.
E. The board of education of each school district in this state
shall have the option of adopting a dress code for st udents enrolled
in the school district. The board of education of a school district
shall also have the option of adopting a dress code which includes
school uniforms.
F. The board of education of each school district in this state
shall have the option of adopting a procedure that requires students
to perform campus-site service for violating the district ’s policy.
G. At least once each semester, the superintendent of a school
district shall provide to the district board of education a report
on the district’s bullying prevention activities and reported
incidents of bullying for the time period covered by the report.
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The report shall be presented at a public meeting of the board of
education.
H. A district board of education shall provide the following to
each employee and to each newly hired employee:
1. The district’s policy adopted pursuant to this section; and
2. An explanation of the employee ’s responsibilities with
regard to the implementation of the policy adopted pursuant to this
section.
I. The State Board of Education shall:
1. Promulgate rules for periodically monitoring school
districts for compliance with this section and providing sanctions
for noncompliance with this section;
2. Establish and maintain a central repository for the
collection of information regarding documented and verified
incidents of bullying; and
3. Publish a report annually on the State Department of
Education website regarding the number of documented and verified
incidents of bullying in the public schools in the state.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2021.
SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
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declared to exist, by reason wh ereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON RULES, dated 04/08/2021 - DO PASS,
As Coauthored.