82R5967 CAS-F
By: Menendez H.B. No. 1059
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to bullying, including cyberbullying, in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.0342, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "Bullying":
(A) [, "bullying"] means a single significant act
or a pattern of acts by one student directed at another student that
involves engaging in written or verbal expression or physical
conduct, that satisfies the applicability requirements provided by
Subsection (a-1), and that a school district board of trustees or
the board's designee determines:
(i) [(1)] will have the effect of
physically or emotionally 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; [or]
(ii) [(2)] 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 education process or the orderly operation of a
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 electronic communication, including through the
use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a pager, a
camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, or an
Internet website.
(a-1) This section applies to:
(1) bullying 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 that occurs on a publicly or privately
owned school bus or van 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 school or school-sponsored or school-related activity.
SECTION 2. Sections 37.001(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established
under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for
the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and
prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for
review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of
conduct must:
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom,
campus, or disciplinary alternative education program;
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student
to a disciplinary alternative education program;
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by
Section 37.007;
(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a
factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a
disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or
placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program,
regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or
discretionary action, to:
(A) self-defense;
(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the
student engaged in the conduct;
(C) a student's disciplinary history; or
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's
conduct;
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a
term of:
(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007;
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary
alternative education program, or expulsion;
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those
prohibitions; [and]
(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade
level, methods, including options, for:
(A) managing students in the classroom and on
school grounds;
(B) disciplining students; and
(C) preventing and intervening in student
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making
hit lists;
(9) include a procedure for reporting an act of
bullying, harassment, or intimidation that includes allowing a
person to anonymously report such an act; and
(10) include a procedure for prompt investigation of a
reported act of bullying, harassment, or intimidation.
(b) In this section:
(1) "Bullying" has the meaning assigned by Section
25.0342.
(2) "Harassment" means threatening to cause harm or
bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating
conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another
student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or
restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially
harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety.
(3) [(2)] "Hit list" means a list of people targeted
to be harmed, using:
(A) a firearm, as defined by Section 46.01(3),
Penal Code;
(B) a knife, as defined by Section 46.01(7),
Penal Code; or
(C) any other object to be used with intent to
cause bodily harm.
SECTION 3. Section 37.083, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.083. DISCIPLINE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS; SEXUAL
HARASSMENT POLICIES. (a) Each school district shall adopt and
implement a discipline management program to be included in the
district improvement plan under Section 11.252. The program must
provide for prevention of and education concerning unwanted
physical or verbal aggression, sexual harassment, and other forms
of bullying [in school, on school grounds, and in school vehicles].
(b) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
shall, in consultation with any district- and campus-level
committees established under Section 11.251, [may] develop and
implement a written policy concerning sexual harassment and other
forms of bullying [policy] to be included, as applicable, in the
district improvement plan under Section 11.252. The policy must:
(1) include the definitions of bullying and
cyberbullying assigned by Section 25.0342, including the
applicability information provided by Section 25.0342(a-1);
(2) establish a procedure for providing notice of an
act of sexual harassment or another form of bullying to a parent or
guardian of the victim and the parent or guardian of the perpetrator
within 48 hours of the time the act is reported; and
(3) include a procedure for investigating a reported
act of sexual harassment or another form of bullying and for
responding to and remediating any such substantiated act.
(c) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
shall, to the greatest extent practicable, integrate the policy
required by Subsection (b) into the curriculum, the student code of
conduct, staff and volunteer training, and behavioral and violence
prevention programs of the district or charter school.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012
school year.
SECTION 5. 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, 2011.