Vermont 2025-2026 Regular Session

Vermont Senate Bill S0143 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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5	5	VT LEG #382178 v.2
6	6	S.143 1
7	7	Introduced by Senator Baruth 2
8	8	Referred to Committee on 3
9	9	Date: 4
10	10	Subject: Education; hazing, harassment, and bullying prevention; Agency of 5
11	11	Education 6
12	12	Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to expand the 7
13	13	membership and duties of the Advisory Council on Harassment, Hazing, and 8
14	14	Bullying Prevention in Schools under 16 V.S.A. § 570. 9
15	15	An act relating to expanding the membership and duties of the Advisory 10
16	16	Council on Harassment, Hazing, and Bullying Prevention in Schools 11
17	17	It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 12
18	18	Sec. 1. 16 V.S.A. § 570 is amended to read: 13
19	19	§ 570. HARASSMENT, HAZING, AND BULLYING PREVENTION 14
20	20	POLICIES 15
21	21	* * * 16
22	22	(d) Duties of the Secretary. The Secretary shall: 17
23	23	(1) develop and, from time to time, update model harassment, hazing, 18
24	24	and bullying prevention policies; and 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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29	29	(2) establish an Advisory Council to review and coordinate school and 1
30	30	statewide activities relating to the prevention of and response to harassment, 2
31	31	hazing, and bullying. The Council shall report annually in January to the State 3
32	32	Board and the House and Senate Committees on Education. The Council shall 4
33	33	include: 5
34	34	(A) the Executive Director of the Vermont Principals’ Association or 6
35	35	designee; 7
36	36	(B) the Executive Director of the Vermont School Boards 8
37	37	Association or designee; 9
38	38	(C) the Executive Director of the Vermont Superintendents 10
39	39	Association or designee; 11
40	40	(D) the President of the Vermont-National Education Association or 12
41	41	designee; 13
42	42	(E) the Executive Director of the Vermont Human Rights 14
43	43	Commission or designee; 15
44	44	(F) the Executive Director of the Vermont Independent Schools 16
45	45	Association or designee; and 17
46	46	(G) other members selected by the Secretary, at least one of whom 18
47	47	shall be a current secondary student who has witnessed or experienced 19
48	48	harassment, hazing, or bullying in the school environment; and 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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53	53	(3) provide the Advisory Council with administrative support. 1
54	54	(e) Advisory Council on Harassment, Hazing, and Bullying Prevention in 2
55	55	Schools. 3
56	56	(1) Membership. The Advisory Council shall be composed of the 4
57	57	following members: 5
58	58	(A) the Secretary of Education or designee; 6
59	59	(B) a principal, appointed by the Vermont Principals’ Association; 7
60	60	(C) a school board member, appointed by the Vermont School 8
61	61	Boards Association; 9
62	62	(D) a superintendent, appointed by the Vermont Superintendents 10
63	63	Association; 11
64	64	(E) a teacher, appointed by the Vermont-National Education 12
65	65	Association; 13
66	66	(F) the Executive Director of the Vermont Human Rights 14
67	67	Commission or designee; 15
68	68	(G) the Executive Director of the Vermont Independent Schools 16
69	69	Association or designee; 17
70	70	(H) a member, appointed by the Vermont Coalition for Disability 18
71	71	Rights; 19
72	72	(I) a student member, appointed by the Education Justice Coalition of 20
73	73	Vermont; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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78	78	(J) a student member, appointed by the Vermont Student Anti-1
79	79	Racism Network; 2
80	80	(K) a member, appointed by Outright Vermont; 3
81	81	(L) a member, appointed by the Office of Racial Equity; 4
82	82	(M) a member, appointed by the Vermont Network Against Domestic 5
83	83	and Sexual Violence; 6
84	84	(N) a member, appointed by the National Association of Social 7
85	85	Workers-Vermont (NASW-VT); and 8
86	86	(O) a parent member, appointed by the Vermont Family Network. 9
87	87	(2) Duties. The Advisory Council shall: 10
88	88	(A) Meet at least four and not more than six times per year. 11
89	89	(B) Review and coordinate school and statewide activities relating to 12
90	90	the prevention of and response to harassment, hazing, and bullying. 13
91	91	(C) Review the model harassment, hazing, and bullying prevention 14
92	92	policies developed by the Secretary every two years, beginning in 2025, and 15
93	93	recommend updates to the policies as necessary. 16
94	94	(D) Generate and distribute resources on hazing, harassment, and 17
95	95	bullying prevention and response to school professionals, including: 18
96	96	(i) best practices for reentry into and maintaining access to 19
97	97	educational spaces; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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102	102	(ii) restorative practice framework for responding to hazing, 1
103	103	harassment, and bullying issues; 2
104	104	(iii) differentiated responses for complainants and accused 3
105	105	students with disabilities; and 4
106	106	(iv) annually soliciting input from students, parents, and schools 5
107	107	on hazing, harassment, and bullying. 6
108	108	(E) Notwithstanding 2 V.S.A. § 20(d), annually on or before January 7
109	109	15, the Council shall submit a written report to House and Senate Committees 8
110	110	on Education, which shall hold a joint legislative hearing each legislative 9
111	111	session to review the report. The Council shall also submit the report to the 10
112	112	State Board of Education at the same time. The report shall contain: 11
113	113	(i) details on the past year’s Advisory Council activities and the 12
114	114	upcoming year’s priorities; 13
115	115	(ii) a summary of solicited input from students, parents, and 14
116	116	schools on hazing, harassment, and bullying; 15
117	117	(iii) a list of resources the Agency needs to support work related to 16
118	118	hazing, harassment, and bullying; and 17
119	119	(iv) any recommendations for legislative changes. 18
120	120	(3) Compensation and reimbursement. Members of the Council shall be 19
121	121	entitled to per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses as permitted 20
122	122	under 32 V.S.A. § 1010 for not more than six meetings of the Council per year. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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127	127	(f) Definitions. In this subchapter: 1
128	128	(1) “Educational institution” and “school” mean a public school or an 2
129	129	approved or recognized independent school as defined in section 11 of this 3
130	130	title. 4
131	131	(2) “Organization,” “pledging,” and “student” have the same meanings 5
132	132	as in section 570i of this title. 6
133	133	(3) “Harassment,” “hazing,” and “bullying” have the same meanings as 7
134	134	in subdivisions 11(a)(26), (30), and (32) of this title. 8
135	135	(4) “School board” means the board of directors or other governing 9
136	136	body of an educational institution when referring to an independent school. 10
137	137	Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 11
138	138	This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 12