Bill Text: IL SB3266 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning bullying prevention, makes changes concerning the criteria for bullying, the written policy on bullying that schools must adopt (including posting requirements), and implementation of the written policy. Requires that schools maintain records concerning any bullying incidents. Adds provisions concerning criminal and civil immunity for specified parties. Adds provisions concerning gang resistance education and training for students. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Passed) 2010-06-28 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0952 [SB3266 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-SB3266-Introduced.html

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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2009 and 2010 SB3266 Introduced 2/9/2010, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27-23.7
105 ILCS 5/27-23.9 new
30 ILCS 805/8.34 new
Amends the School Code. In provisions concerning bullying prevention, makes changes concerning the criteria for bullying, the written policy on bullying that schools must adopt (including posting requirements), and implementation of the written policy. Requires that schools maintain records concerning any bullying incidents. Adds provisions concerning criminal and civil immunity for specified parties. Adds provisions concerning gang resistance education and training for students. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.
LRB096 20034 NHT 35537 b
FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
27-23.7 and by adding Section 27-23.9 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27-23.7)
Sec. 27-23.7. Bullying prevention education; gang
resistance education and training.
(a) The General Assembly finds that a safe and civil school
environment is necessary for students to learn and achieve and
that bullying causes physical, psychological and emotional
harm to students and interferes with students' ability to learn
and participate in school activities. The General Assembly
further finds that bullying has a negative effect on the social
environment of schools, creates a climate of fear among
students, inhibits their ability to learn, and leads to other
antisocial behavior. Bullying behavior has been linked to other
forms of antisocial behavior, such as vandalism, shoplifting,
skipping and dropping out of school, fighting, using drugs and
alcohol, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. Because of the
negative outcomes associated with bullying in schools, the
General Assembly finds that school districts should educate all
students, parents, and school district personnel about what

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behaviors constitute prohibited bullying.
Bullying on the basis of actual or perceived race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status,
physical or mental disability, military status, sexual
orientation, gender-related identity or expression,
unfavorable discharge from military service, association with
a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual
or perceived characteristics, or any other distinguishing
characteristic is prohibited in all school districts and
recognized non-public schools. No student shall be subjected to
bullying:
(1) during any school-sponsored education program or
activity;
(2) while in school, on school property, on school
buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus
stops waiting for the school bus, or at school-sponsored or
school-sanctioned events or activities; or
(3) through the transmission of information from a
school computer, a school computer network, or other
similar electronic school equipment.
The General Assembly further finds that the instance of
youth delinquent gangs continues to rise on a statewide basis.
Given the higher rates of criminal offending among gang
members, as well as the availability of increasingly lethal
weapons, the level of criminal activity by gang members has
taken on new importance for law enforcement agencies, schools,

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the community, and prevention efforts.
(b) In this Section:
"Bullying" includes any severe or pervasive physical or
verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing
or electronically, directed toward a student or students that
has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or
more of the following:
(1) placing the student or students in reasonable fear
of harm to the student's or students' person or property;
(2) causing a substantially detrimental effect on the
student's or students' physical or mental health;
(3) substantially interfering with the student's or
students' academic performance; or
(4) substantially interfering with the student's or
students' ability to participate in or benefit from the
services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
Bullying, as defined in this subsection (b), may include
without limitation harassment, threats, intimidation,
stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment or violence,
theft, public humiliation, teasing, social exclusion,
destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or
alleging an act of bullying.
"Recognized Non-Public School" means any non-public school
recognized by the State Board of Education in accordance with
Section 2-3.25o of this Code.
"School personnel" means persons employed by, on contract

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with, or who volunteer in a school district or recognized
non-public school, including without limitation school and
school district administrators, teachers, school guidance
counselors, school social workers, school counselors, school
psychologists, school nurses, cafeteria workers, custodians,
bus drivers, school resource officers, and security guards.
"Bullying prevention" means and includes instruction in
all of the following:
(1) Intimidation.
(2) Student victimization.
(3) Sexual harassment.
(4) Sexual violence.
(5) Strategies for student-centered problem solving
regarding bullying.
"Gang resistance education and training" means and
includes instruction in, without limitation, each of the
following subject matters when accompanied by a stated
objective of reducing gang activity and educating children in
grades K through 12 about the consequences of gang involvement:
(1) Conflict resolution.
(2) Cultural sensitivity.
(3) Personal goal setting.
(4) Resisting peer pressure.
(c) By January 1, 2011, every school district and
recognized non-public school shall have adopted and have in
effect a policy that complies with this subsection (c). Every

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policy required under this subsection (c) must contain, at a
minimum, the following components:
(1) a definition of bullying that is consistent with
that which is set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this
Section;
(2) a statement declaring that bullying is contrary to
state law and school district policy or the policy of the
recognized non-public school;
(3) procedure or procedures for reporting bullying,
including a provision that permits a person to report
bullying anonymously. No formal disciplinary action shall
be taken by a school district or recognized non-public
school solely on the basis of an anonymous report;
(4) a requirement that any school employee who has
reliable information that would lead a reasonable person to
suspect that a student is a target of bullying shall
immediately report it to the person or persons responsible
for investigating reports of bullying;
(5) an explanation of the procedure or procedures for
the prompt investigation of allegations of bullying,
including identification of the person or persons
responsible for investigating reports of bullying;
(6) the timelines that the school district or
recognized non-public school will follow to resolve
complaints of bullying;
(7) a list of the potential consequences for and

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remedial actions that may be taken against an individual
who violates the bullying policy; and
(8) a list of the potential remedies for and protective
actions that may be taken for a student subjected to
bullying.
With respect to this list of potential remedies, the policy
must state that, except to secure their immediate safety or
with the consent of the adult who legally enrolled the student,
a student ordinarily should not be removed from a class, room,
school facility or school district in order to stop ongoing
bullying directed at them and if there is a need to separate
students for this purpose and to create an environment
conducive to learning and respect, it is presumed that the
offending students ordinarily should be removed.
A school district in every one of its schools, and a
recognized non-public school, shall (i) post the policy
required in this subsection (c) in an area of the school where
notices regarding the rules, regulations, procedures, and
standards of conduct are posted; (ii) distribute such policy
annually to parents, guardians, and students; (iii) provide the
policy to all school personnel at the beginning of each school
year and at the time a new employee is hired; and (iv) include
the policy on or in the school district's, or recognized
non-public school's website, student handbook, student
orientation material, or publication that sets forth the rules,
procedures, or standards of conduct for students.

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Every policy required by this subsection (c) must be
implemented in a manner that is ongoing throughout the school
year and integrated with a school's curriculum, a school's
discipline policies and other violence prevention efforts.
Each school district may make suitable provisions for
instruction in bullying prevention and gang resistance
education and training in all grades and include such
instruction in the courses of study regularly taught therein. A
school board may collaborate with a community-based agency
providing specialized curricula in bullying prevention whose
ultimate outcome is to prevent sexual violence. For the
purposes of gang resistance education and training, a school
board must collaborate with State and local law enforcement
agencies. The State Board of Education may assist in the
development of instructional materials and teacher training in
relation to bullying prevention and gang resistance education
and training.
(d) Every school district and recognized non-public school
shall maintain data regarding the allegations and incidents of
bullying in the school district or recognized non-public
school, including a record of each complaint alleging a
violation of the bullying policy and the resulting
determination made or actions taken, or both, in response to
the complaint. Beginning with 2011-2012 school year, every
school district and recognized non-public school must submit to
the State Board of Education data regarding bullying in a

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format to be determined by the State Board of Education.
Subject to funds appropriated for these purposes, the State
Board of Education, in collaboration with additional State
agencies at its discretion, shall facilitate compliance with
this Section by doing the following:
(1) preparing model policies applicable to and age
appropriate for grades K through 12; and
(2) developing a demonstration project under which the
State Board of Education shall provide, either directly or
through a contract, in-service training and technical
assistance regarding bullying to school personnel and
students in selected school districts, which project shall
do the following:
(A) address the causes of bullying and train
teachers, administrators, student services personnel,
and other school personnel about strategies to prevent
bullying and to effectively intervene when such
incidents occur;
(B) teach students about the consequences of
bullying and to effectively intervene when such
incidents occur; and
(C) evaluate the effects of the in-service
training and technical assistance on bullying behavior
and its consequences within the school district.
The demonstration project shall operate for 2 years,
beginning in the 2011-2012 school year, in 5 to 10 school

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districts that meet criteria to be determined by the State
Board of Education. Beginning 180 days after August 23,
2007 (the effective date of Public Act 95-349), each school
district shall create and maintain a policy on bullying,
which policy must be filed with the State Board of
Education. Each school district must communicate its
policy on bullying to its students and their parent or
guardian on an annual basis. The policy must be updated
every 2 years and filed with the State Board of Education
after being updated. The State Board of Education shall
monitor the implementation of policies created under this
subsection (d).
(e) A school district or recognized non-public school
employee, volunteer or student, or a student's parent or
guardian, who promptly, reasonably, and in good faith reports
an incident of harassment, in compliance with the procedures in
the policy adopted pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section,
to the appropriate school official designated by the school
district or recognized non-public school, shall be immune from
civil or criminal liability related to the report and to
participation in any administrative or judicial proceeding
resulting from or relating to the report.
(f) This Section shall not be interpreted to prevent a
victim from seeking redress under any other available civil or
criminal law. Nothing in this Section is intended to infringe
upon the right of a school employee or student to exercise

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their right of free speech.
(Source: P.A. 94-937, eff. 6-26-06; 95-198, eff. 1-1-08;
95-349, eff. 8-23-07; 95-876, eff. 8-21-08.)
(105 ILCS 5/27-23.9 new)
Sec. 27-23.9. Gang resistance education and training.
(a) The General Assembly finds that the instance of youth
delinquent gangs continues to rise on a statewide basis. Given
the higher rates of criminal offending among gang members, as
well as the availability of increasingly lethal weapons, the
level of criminal activity by gang members has taken on new
importance for law enforcement agencies, schools, the
community, and prevention efforts.
(b) As used in this Section:
"Gang resistance education and training" means and
includes instruction in, without limitation, each of the
following subject matters when accompanied by a stated
objective of reducing gang activity and educating children in
grades K through 12 about the consequences of gang involvement:
(1) conflict resolution;
(2) cultural sensitivity;
(3) personal goal setting; and
(4) resisting peer pressure.
(c) Each school district may make suitable provisions for
instruction in gang resistance education and training in all
grades and include that instruction in the courses of study

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regularly taught in those grades. For the purposes of gang
resistance education and training, a school board must
collaborate with State and local law enforcement agencies. The
State Board of Education may assist in the development of
instructional materials and teacher training in relation to
gang resistance education and training.
Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.34 as follows:
(30 ILCS 805/8.34 new)
Sec. 8.34. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of
the 96th General Assembly.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.