Bill Text: MI SB0137 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Education; discipline; policy prohibiting harassment and bullying at school; require. Amends 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1 - 380.1852) by adding sec. 1310b.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-11-02 - Referred To Committee On Education [SB0137 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0137-Engrossed.html
SB-0137, As Passed Senate, November 2, 2011
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 137
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1310b.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1310b. (1) Not later than 6 months after the effective
date of this section, the board of a school district or
intermediate school district or board of directors of a public
school academy shall adopt and implement a policy prohibiting
bullying by pupils at school, as defined in this section.
(2) Before adopting the policy required under subsection (1),
the board or board of directors shall hold at least 1 public
hearing on the proposed policy. This public hearing may be held as
part of a regular board meeting. Not later than 30 days after
adopting the policy, the board or board of directors shall submit a
copy of its policy to the department.
(3) Not later than 1 year after the effective date of this
section, the department shall submit a report to the senate and
house standing committees on education summarizing the status of
the implementation of policies under this section.
(4) A policy adopted pursuant to subsection (1) shall include
at least all of the following:
(a) A statement prohibiting bullying of a pupil.
(b) A statement prohibiting a false accusation of bullying.
(c) A statement prohibiting retaliation or false accusation
against a target of bullying, a witness, or another person with
reliable information about an act of bullying.
(d) A provision indicating that all pupils are protected under
the policy and that bullying is equally prohibited without regard
to its subject matter or motivating animus.
(e) The identification by job title of school officials
responsible for ensuring that the policy is implemented.
(f) A statement describing how the policy is to be publicized.
The policy shall include at least a requirement that notice of the
policy be provided to parents, guardians, staff, volunteers, and
pupils annually, with age-appropriate language for pupils, and a
requirement that the policy be included in all pupil and employee
handbooks and posted on the school district's or public school's
website.
(g) A procedure for providing notification to the parent or
legal guardian of a reported victim of bullying and the parent or
legal guardian of an alleged perpetrator of the bullying on the
same day as school officials become aware of the bullying. The
policy may provide that if the bullying occurs outside school
hours, this notification will be made on the next school day.
(h) A statement that the policy applies on school premises, on
a school bus or other school-related vehicle, or at a school-
sponsored activity or event whether or not it is held on school
premises.
(i) A statement that the policy applies to conduct using a
telecommunications access device or telecommunications service
provider, regardless of whether the conduct occurs on or off school
premises, if the telecommunications access device or the
telecommunications service provider is owned by or under the
control of the school district or public school academy.
(j) A procedure for reporting an act of bullying or a false
accusation of bullying.
(k) A requirement that any school employee who has reliable
information that would lead a reasonable person to suspect that a
pupil is a target of bullying or to suspect a false accusation of
bullying shall immediately report it to the principal or the
principal's designee.
(l) A procedure for prompt investigation of a report of
violation of the policy or a related complaint, identifying either
the principal or the principal's designee as the person responsible
for the investigation.
(m) A procedure for each public school to document any
prohibited incident that is reported and a procedure to report all
verified incidents of bullying and the resulting consequences,
including discipline and referrals, to the board of the school
district or intermediate school district or board of directors of
the public school academy on an annual basis.
(n) A description of possible consequences and appropriate
remedial action for a pupil who commits an act of bullying. This
portion of the policy shall include a provision that formal
disciplinary action shall not be taken solely on the basis of an
anonymous report.
(o) A description of possible consequences and appropriate
remedial action for a pupil who is determined to have knowingly
made a false accusation of bullying against 1 or more other pupils.
The possible consequences and remedial action for a false
accusation of bullying shall be the same as for an act of bullying.
This portion of the policy shall include a provision that formal
disciplinary action shall not be taken solely on the basis of an
anonymous report.
(p) A description of possible consequences and appropriate
remedial action for a pupil who is determined to have knowingly
falsely accused another as a means of retaliation or reprisal or as
a means of bullying.
(q) A strategy for providing, as necessary, counseling or
referral to appropriate services, including guidance, academic
intervention, and protection, for targets of bullying, perpetrators
of bullying, other pupils, and appropriate family members involved
in or affected by bullying or a false accusation of bullying.
(5) The legislature encourages a board or board of directors
to include all of the following in the policy required under this
section:
(a) Provisions to form bullying prevention task forces,
programs, teen courts, and other initiatives involving school
staff, pupils, school clubs or other student groups,
administrators, volunteers, parents, law enforcement, community
members, and other stakeholders.
(b) A requirement for periodic training for administrators,
school employees, and volunteers who have significant contact with
pupils on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting
incidents of bullying.
(c) A requirement for educational programs for pupils and
parents on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting
incidents of bullying.
(6) A school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or parent or
guardian who promptly reports in good faith an act of bullying or a
false accusation of bullying to the appropriate school official
designated in the school district's or public school academy's
policy and who makes this report in compliance with the procedures
set forth in the policy is immune from a cause of action for
damages arising out of the reporting itself or any failure to
remedy the reported incident.
(7) This section does not prevent a person from seeking any
other civil or criminal redress available under law.
(8) This section does not abridge the rights under the First
Amendment of the constitution of the United States or under article
I of the state constitution of 1963 of a school employee, school
volunteer, pupil, or a pupil's parent or guardian. This section
does not prohibit a statement of a sincerely held religious belief
or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil,
or a pupil's parent or guardian.
(9) This section applies only to conduct by a pupil directed
at 1 or more other pupils and, except as expressly provided in this
section, does not apply to conduct by any other person, including,
but not limited to, a school employee, a school volunteer who is
not a pupil, or a pupil's parent or guardian.
(10) As used in this section:
(a) "At school" means in a classroom, elsewhere on school
premises, on a school bus or other school-related vehicle, or at a
school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is held on
school premises. "At school" includes conduct using a
telecommunications access device or telecommunications service
provider that occurs off school premises if the telecommunications
access device or the telecommunications service provider is owned
by or under the control of the school district or public school
academy.
(b) "Bullying" means any written, verbal, or physical act, or
any electronic communication, by a pupil directed at 1 or more
other pupils that is intended or that a reasonable person would
know is likely to harm 1 or more pupils either directly or
indirectly by doing any of the following:
(i) Substantially interfering with educational opportunities,
benefits, or programs of 1 or more pupils.
(ii) Substantially and adversely affecting the ability of a
pupil to participate in or benefit from the school district's or
public school's educational programs or activities by placing the
pupil in reasonable fear of physical harm.
(iii) Having an actual and substantial detrimental effect on a
pupil's physical or mental health or causing substantial emotional
distress.
(iv) Causing substantial disruption in, or substantial
interference with, the orderly operation of the school.
(c) "Telecommunications access device" and "telecommunications
service provider" mean those terms as defined in section 219a of
the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.219a.
(11) This section shall be known as "Matt's Safe School Law".
