ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 1 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 222 By: Standridge of the Senate
and
Pae of the House
An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2011,
Section 24-100.3, as amended by Section 2, Ch apter
311, O.S.L. 2013 (70 O.S. Supp. 20 20, Section 24-
100.3), which relates to definitions under the School
Safety and Bullying Prevention Act; modifying
definitions; amending 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), which
relates to the control and discipline of a child;
requiring certain policy to be updated annually;
modifying who can report incidents of bullying;
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 retaliation
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
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:
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 2 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
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. 20 20,
Section 24-100.3), is amended to read as follow s:
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 cau se negative educational or
physical results for the targeted in dividual 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 repeated or is
highly likely to be repeated.
Bullying actions shall include, but not be limited to ,
harassment, intimidation, threatening behavior, spreading rumors ,
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;
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 3 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
3. “Electronic communication ” means the communication of any
written, verbal, pictorial info rmation 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, wheth er or not it is directed at another pers on,
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 schoo l
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 read as follows:
Section 24-100.4. A. Each district bo ard 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
shall provide options for the discipli ne of the students and shall
define standards of conduct to which students are expected to
conform. The policy shall:
1. Specifically address bullying by stud ents at school on
school premises and by electronic communication, i f the
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 4 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
communication is speci fically 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 student;
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 rep ort 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 woul d lead a reasonable pers on 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 guardian of a
student who promptly reports in good faith a n 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
for damages arising out of the reporting itself or any failure to
remedy the reported incident of bullying;
4. Contain a statement of ho w the policy is to be publicized
including a requirement that:
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 5 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
a. an annual written notice of the policy be provided to
parents, legal guardians, staff, volunteers and
students, with age-appropriate language for stude nts,
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 th e
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 reports of bullying make a determinat ion regarding
whether the conduct is actual ly occurring;
6. Contain a procedure and requirement for providing
notification to the parents or leg al guardians of the reported
victim of bullying and the parents o r legal guardians of the
reported perpetrator of the bullying within twenty-four (24) hours
of receipt of the report of bullying and providing timely
notification to the parents or legal guardians of a victim of
documented and verified bullying and to the parents or legal
guardians of the perpetrat or of the documented and verified
bullying; provided, if a student expresses suicidal thoughts or
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 6 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
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 offici al 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 constitute
criminal activity or reasonably have the potenti al 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 preve nting,
identifying, respondin g to and reporting i ncidents of bullying;
10. Provide for an e ducational program as designed and
developed by the State Department of Education and in consultation
with the Office of Juvenile Affairs for students and parents i n
preventing, identifying, re sponding to and repo rting incidents of
bullying;
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 Affair s;
12. Address prevention by providing:
a. consequences and remedial action for a person wh o
commits an act of bullying,
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 7 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
b. consequences and remedial action for a student found
to have falsely accused another as a means of
retaliation, reprisal or as a me ans 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 fam ily members affected
by bullying, as necess ary;
13. Establish a procedu re for:
a. the investigation, determination and documentation o f
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 i ncidents of bullying, and
d. determining the severity of the incidents and their
potential to result in future violence;
14. Establish a procedure whereby, upon co mpleting an
investigation of bullying, a sc hool may recommend that avail able
community mental health care, substance abuse or other cou nseling
options be provided to the student, if appropriate; and
15. Establish a procedure whereby a school may request t he
disclosure of any information concerning students who have received
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 8 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
mental health, substa nce abuse, or other care pursuant to paragr aph
14 of this subsection that indicates an explicit threat to the
safety of students or school personnel, provided the d isclosure of
the information does not viola te the requirements and provi sions 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, Sect ion 1376 of Title 59 of
the Oklahoma Statutes, or any other state or fed eral laws regarding
the disclosure of confidential information ; and
16. Contain a statement prohibiting retaliation against a
school employee who notifies the distri ct board of education or the
State Department of Education of noncompliance with the provi sions
of this section.
B. 1. In developing the policy, the di strict board of
education shall make an effort to involve the teachers, parents,
administrators, school staff, school volunteers, community
representatives, local law enfo rcement agencies and s tudents.
2. Before adopting the policy required by this sectio n 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 pu blic hearing may be he ld as part
of a regularly scheduled board meeting. The distric t 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
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 9 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
least one other commun ication method regular ly 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 wi thin 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 district
policy shall be implemented in a manner that is o ngoing 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 distr ict policies during the time
the child is in attendance or in transit to or from the school or
any other school function authorized by the schoo l district or
classroom presided over by the teacher.
D. Except concerning students on in dividualized 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 school
districts or to proscribe c orporal punishment in the public schools.
The State Board of E ducation shall not have authority to require
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 10 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
school districts to file student disciplinary action repor ts more
often than once each year and shall not use disciplinary act ion
reports in determining a school district ’s or school site’s
eligibility for progr am 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 students en rolled
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 o f each school district in this state
shall have the option of adopti ng a procedure that re quires students
to perform campus-site service for violating th e 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.
The report shall be presented at a public meeting of the board of
education.
H. A district board of education shall prov ide the following to
each employee and to each n ewly hired employee:
1. The district’s policy adopted pursuan t to this section; and
2. An explanation of the employee’s responsibilities with
regard to the implementation of the policy adopted pursuant to t his
section.
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 11 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
I. The State Board of Education sh all:
1. Promulgate rules for periodically monitoring school
districts for compliance with this section and providing sanctions
for noncompliance with this sec tion;
2. Establish and maintain a central reposi tory for the
collection of information regarding documented and verifi ed
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 i n the public schools in the state.
SECTION 3. This act shall be come effective July 1, 2021.
SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof thi s act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
ENGR. S. B. NO. 222 Page 12 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Passed the Senate the 11th day of March, 2021.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2021.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives