Bill Text: NY S00186 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
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Bill Title: Requires dating violence education and dating violence policies in school districts, boards of cooperative educational services and county vocational education and extension boards; establishes that "dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where one person uses threats of, or actually uses physical, sexual, verbal or emotional abuse to control his or her dating partner; requires the department, in conjunction with the office for the prevention of domestic violence, to assist schools in developing a policy for dating violence incidents; requires such education to be taught to students regarding dating violence in the annual health curriculum framework for students in grades 7 through 12.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-24 - PRINT NUMBER 186A [S00186 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S00186-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Requires dating violence education and dating violence policies in school districts, boards of cooperative educational services and county vocational education and extension boards; establishes that "dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where one person uses threats of, or actually uses physical, sexual, verbal or emotional abuse to control his or her dating partner; requires the department, in conjunction with the office for the prevention of domestic violence, to assist schools in developing a policy for dating violence incidents; requires such education to be taught to students regarding dating violence in the annual health curriculum framework for students in grades 7 through 12.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-24 - PRINT NUMBER 186A [S00186 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S00186-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 186 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 4, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MARCHIONE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing dating violence education and dating violence policies in school districts, boards of cooperative educational services and county vocational education and extension boards The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "Kari Ann Gorman act." 3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature finds, deter- 4 mines and declares that when a student is a victim of dating violence, 5 his or her academic life suffers and his or her safety at school is 6 jeopardized. The legislature finds that a policy to create an environ- 7 ment free of dating violence shall be a part of each school district. It 8 is the intent of the legislature to enact legislation that would require 9 each school district to establish a policy for responding to incidents 10 of dating violence and to provide dating violence education to students, 11 parents, staff, faculty and administrators, in order to prevent dating 12 violence and to address incidents involving dating violence. 13 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 817 to read 14 as follows: 15 § 817. Dating violence education. 1. Each school district shall 16 incorporate dating violence education that is age-appropriate into the 17 annual health curriculum framework for students in grades seven through 18 twelve. 19 (a) Dating violence education shall include, but not be limited to, 20 defining dating violence, recognizing dating violence warning signs and 21 characteristics of healthy relationships. Additionally, students shall EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03009-01-7S. 186 2 1 be provided with the school district's dating violence policy as 2 provided in section twenty-eight hundred three of this chapter. 3 (b) For the purposes of this section: 4 (i) "Dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where one person 5 uses threats of, or actually uses, physical, sexual, verbal or emotional 6 abuse to control his or her dating partner. 7 (ii) "Dating partner" means any person involved in an intimate associ- 8 ation with another primarily characterized by the expectation of affec- 9 tionate involvement whether casual, serious or long-term. 10 (iii) "At school" means in a classroom, on or immediately adjacent to 11 such school premises, on a school bus or other school-related vehicle, 12 at an official school bus stop, or at any school-sponsored activity or 13 event whether or not it is on school grounds. 14 (c) To assist school districts in developing a dating violence educa- 15 tion program, the department shall review and approve the grade level 16 topics relating to dating violence and healthy relationships. 17 2. Upon written request to the school principal, a parent or legal 18 guardian of a pupil less than eighteen years of age, within a reasonable 19 period of time after the request is made, shall be permitted to examine 20 the dating violence education program instruction materials at the 21 school in which his or her child is enrolled. 22 § 4. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2803 to read 23 as follows: 24 § 2803. Dating violence policy. 1. As used in this section: 25 (a) "Dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where one person 26 uses threats of, or actually uses, physical, sexual, verbal or emotional 27 abuse to control his or her dating partner. 28 (b) "Dating partner" means any person, regardless of gender, involved 29 in an intimate relationship with another primarily characterized by the 30 expectation of affectionate involvement whether casual, serious or long- 31 term. 32 (c) "At school" means in a classroom, on or immediately adjacent to 33 school premises, on a school bus or other school-related vehicle, at an 34 official school bus stop, or at any school-sponsored activity or event 35 whether or not it is on school grounds. 36 2. The department, in conjunction with the office for the prevention 37 of domestic violence, shall develop a model dating violence policy to 38 assist school districts, boards of cooperative educational services and 39 county vocational education and extension boards in developing policies 40 for dating violence reporting and response. The model policy shall be 41 issued on or before April first, two thousand nineteen. 42 3. Each school district, board of cooperative educational services and 43 county vocational education and extension board shall establish a 44 specific policy to address incidents of dating violence involving 45 students at school by December first, two thousand nineteen. Each 46 school district, board of cooperative educational services and county 47 vocational education and extension board shall verify compliance with 48 the department on an annual basis through the school district report 49 cards or board of cooperative educational services report card required 50 by this chapter. 51 (a) Such policy shall include, but not be limited to, a statement that 52 dating violence will not be tolerated, dating violence reporting proce- 53 dures, guidelines to responding to at-school incidents of dating 54 violence and discipline procedures specific to such incidents. 55 (b) To ensure notice of the school district's, board of cooperative 56 educational services' and county vocational education and extensionS. 186 3 1 board's dating violence policy, the policy shall be published in any 2 school district, board of cooperative educational services and county 3 vocational education and extension board policy and handbook that sets 4 forth the comprehensive rules, procedures and standards of conduct for 5 students at school. 6 4. Each school district, board of cooperative educational services and 7 county vocational education and extension board shall provide dating 8 violence training to all administrators, teachers, nurses and mental 9 health staff at the middle and high school levels. Upon the recommenda- 10 tion of the administrator, other staff may be included or may attend the 11 training on a volunteer basis. The dating violence training shall 12 include, but not be limited to, basic principles of dating violence, 13 warning signs of dating violence and the school district's dating 14 violence policy, to ensure that they are able to appropriately respond 15 to incidents of dating violence at school. Thereafter, this training 16 shall be provided yearly to all newly hired staff deemed appropriate to 17 receive the training by the school's administration. 18 5. Each school district, board of cooperative educational services and 19 county vocational education and extension board shall inform the 20 students' parents or legal guardians of the dating violence policy. If 21 requested, the school district, board of cooperative educational 22 services or county vocational education and extension board shall 23 provide the parents or legal guardians with the school district's dating 24 violence policy and relevant information. It is strongly recommended 25 that the school district, board of cooperative educational services or 26 county vocational education and extension board provide parent awareness 27 training. 28 6. This section does not prevent a victim from seeking redress under 29 any other available law, either civil or criminal. This section does not 30 create or alter any tort liability. 31 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
