BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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VT LEG #382178 v.2
S.143 1
Introduced by Senator Baruth 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Education; hazing, harassment, and bullying prevention; Agency of 5
Education 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to expand the 7
membership and duties of the Advisory Council on Harassment, Hazing, and 8
Bullying Prevention in Schools under 16 V.S.A. § 570. 9
An act relating to expanding the membership and duties of the Advisory 10
Council on Harassment, Hazing, and Bullying Prevention in Schools 11
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 12
Sec. 1. 16 V.S.A. § 570 is amended to read: 13
§ 570. HARASSMENT, HAZING, AND BULLYING PREVENTION 14
POLICIES 15
* * * 16
(d) Duties of the Secretary. The Secretary shall: 17
(1) develop and, from time to time, update model harassment, hazing, 18
and bullying prevention policies; and 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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(2) establish an Advisory Council to review and coordinate school and 1
statewide activities relating to the prevention of and response to harassment, 2
hazing, and bullying. The Council shall report annually in January to the State 3
Board and the House and Senate Committees on Education. The Council shall 4
include: 5
(A) the Executive Director of the Vermont Principals’ Association or 6
designee; 7
(B) the Executive Director of the Vermont School Boards 8
Association or designee; 9
(C) the Executive Director of the Vermont Superintendents 10
Association or designee; 11
(D) the President of the Vermont-National Education Association or 12
designee; 13
(E) the Executive Director of the Vermont Human Rights 14
Commission or designee; 15
(F) the Executive Director of the Vermont Independent Schools 16
Association or designee; and 17
(G) other members selected by the Secretary, at least one of whom 18
shall be a current secondary student who has witnessed or experienced 19
harassment, hazing, or bullying in the school environment; and 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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(3) provide the Advisory Council with administrative support. 1
(e) Advisory Council on Harassment, Hazing, and Bullying Prevention in 2
Schools. 3
(1) Membership. The Advisory Council shall be composed of the 4
following members: 5
(A) the Secretary of Education or designee; 6
(B) a principal, appointed by the Vermont Principals’ Association; 7
(C) a school board member, appointed by the Vermont School 8
Boards Association; 9
(D) a superintendent, appointed by the Vermont Superintendents 10
Association; 11
(E) a teacher, appointed by the Vermont-National Education 12
Association; 13
(F) the Executive Director of the Vermont Human Rights 14
Commission or designee; 15
(G) the Executive Director of the Vermont Independent Schools 16
Association or designee; 17
(H) a member, appointed by the Vermont Coalition for Disability 18
Rights; 19
(I) a student member, appointed by the Education Justice Coalition of 20
Vermont; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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(J) a student member, appointed by the Vermont Student Anti-1
Racism Network; 2
(K) a member, appointed by Outright Vermont; 3
(L) a member, appointed by the Office of Racial Equity; 4
(M) a member, appointed by the Vermont Network Against Domestic 5
and Sexual Violence; 6
(N) a member, appointed by the National Association of Social 7
Workers-Vermont (NASW-VT); and 8
(O) a parent member, appointed by the Vermont Family Network. 9
(2) Duties. The Advisory Council shall: 10
(A) Meet at least four and not more than six times per year. 11
(B) Review and coordinate school and statewide activities relating to 12
the prevention of and response to harassment, hazing, and bullying. 13
(C) Review the model harassment, hazing, and bullying prevention 14
policies developed by the Secretary every two years, beginning in 2025, and 15
recommend updates to the policies as necessary. 16
(D) Generate and distribute resources on hazing, harassment, and 17
bullying prevention and response to school professionals, including: 18
(i) best practices for reentry into and maintaining access to 19
educational spaces; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED S.143
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(ii) restorative practice framework for responding to hazing, 1
harassment, and bullying issues; 2
(iii) differentiated responses for complainants and accused 3
students with disabilities; and 4
(iv) annually soliciting input from students, parents, and schools 5
on hazing, harassment, and bullying. 6
(E) Notwithstanding 2 V.S.A. § 20(d), annually on or before January 7
15, the Council shall submit a written report to House and Senate Committees 8
on Education, which shall hold a joint legislative hearing each legislative 9
session to review the report. The Council shall also submit the report to the 10
State Board of Education at the same time. The report shall contain: 11
(i) details on the past year’s Advisory Council activities and the 12
upcoming year’s priorities; 13
(ii) a summary of solicited input from students, parents, and 14
schools on hazing, harassment, and bullying; 15
(iii) a list of resources the Agency needs to support work related to 16
hazing, harassment, and bullying; and 17
(iv) any recommendations for legislative changes. 18
(3) Compensation and reimbursement. Members of the Council shall be 19
entitled to per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses as permitted 20
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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(f) Definitions. In this subchapter: 1
(1) “Educational institution” and “school” mean a public school or an 2
approved or recognized independent school as defined in section 11 of this 3
title. 4
(2) “Organization,” “pledging,” and “student” have the same meanings 5
as in section 570i of this title. 6
(3) “Harassment,” “hazing,” and “bullying” have the same meanings as 7
in subdivisions 11(a)(26), (30), and (32) of this title. 8
(4) “School board” means the board of directors or other governing 9
body of an educational institution when referring to an independent school. 10
Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 11
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 12