Bill Text: TX HB1059 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to bullying, including cyberbullying, in public schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-29 - Left pending in committee [HB1059 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB1059-Introduced.html
82R5967 CAS-F | ||
By: Menendez | H.B. No. 1059 |
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relating to bullying, including cyberbullying, in public schools. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 25.0342, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Bullying": | ||
(A) [ |
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or a pattern of acts by one student directed at another student that | ||
involves engaging in written or verbal expression or physical | ||
conduct, that satisfies the applicability requirements provided by | ||
Subsection (a-1), and that a school district board of trustees or | ||
the board's designee determines: | ||
(i) [ |
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physically or emotionally harming a student, damaging a student's | ||
property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the | ||
student's person or of damage to the student's property; [ |
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(ii) [ |
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persistent, or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates | ||
an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment | ||
for a student; | ||
(iii) materially and substantially | ||
disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a | ||
school; or | ||
(iv) infringes on the rights of the victim | ||
at school; and | ||
(B) includes cyberbullying. | ||
(2) "Cyberbullying" means bullying that is done | ||
through the use of electronic communication, including through the | ||
use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a pager, a | ||
camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, or an | ||
Internet website. | ||
(a-1) This section applies to: | ||
(1) bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school | ||
property or to the site of a school-sponsored or school-related | ||
activity on or off school property; | ||
(2) bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately | ||
owned school bus or van being used for transportation of students to | ||
or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity; | ||
and | ||
(3) cyberbullying that occurs off school property or | ||
outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the | ||
cyberbullying: | ||
(A) interferes with a student's educational | ||
opportunities; or | ||
(B) substantially disrupts the orderly operation | ||
of a school or school-sponsored or school-related activity. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 37.001(a) and (b), Education Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) The board of trustees of an independent school district | ||
shall, with the advice of its district-level committee established | ||
under Subchapter F, Chapter 11, adopt a student code of conduct for | ||
the district. The student code of conduct must be posted and | ||
prominently displayed at each school campus or made available for | ||
review at the office of the campus principal. In addition to | ||
establishing standards for student conduct, the student code of | ||
conduct must: | ||
(1) specify the circumstances, in accordance with this | ||
subchapter, under which a student may be removed from a classroom, | ||
campus, or disciplinary alternative education program; | ||
(2) specify conditions that authorize or require a | ||
principal or other appropriate administrator to transfer a student | ||
to a disciplinary alternative education program; | ||
(3) outline conditions under which a student may be | ||
suspended as provided by Section 37.005 or expelled as provided by | ||
Section 37.007; | ||
(4) specify that consideration will be given, as a | ||
factor in each decision concerning suspension, removal to a | ||
disciplinary alternative education program, expulsion, or | ||
placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program, | ||
regardless of whether the decision concerns a mandatory or | ||
discretionary action, to: | ||
(A) self-defense; | ||
(B) intent or lack of intent at the time the | ||
student engaged in the conduct; | ||
(C) a student's disciplinary history; or | ||
(D) a disability that substantially impairs the | ||
student's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the student's | ||
conduct; | ||
(5) provide guidelines for setting the length of a | ||
term of: | ||
(A) a removal under Section 37.006; and | ||
(B) an expulsion under Section 37.007; | ||
(6) address the notification of a student's parent or | ||
guardian of a violation of the student code of conduct committed by | ||
the student that results in suspension, removal to a disciplinary | ||
alternative education program, or expulsion; | ||
(7) prohibit bullying, harassment, and making hit | ||
lists and ensure that district employees enforce those | ||
prohibitions; [ |
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(8) provide, as appropriate for students at each grade | ||
level, methods, including options, for: | ||
(A) managing students in the classroom and on | ||
school grounds; | ||
(B) disciplining students; and | ||
(C) preventing and intervening in student | ||
discipline problems, including bullying, harassment, and making | ||
hit lists; | ||
(9) include a procedure for reporting an act of | ||
bullying, harassment, or intimidation that includes allowing a | ||
person to anonymously report such an act; and | ||
(10) include a procedure for prompt investigation of a | ||
reported act of bullying, harassment, or intimidation. | ||
(b) In this section: | ||
(1) "Bullying" has the meaning assigned by Section | ||
25.0342. | ||
(2) "Harassment" means threatening to cause harm or | ||
bodily injury to another student, engaging in sexually intimidating | ||
conduct, causing physical damage to the property of another | ||
student, subjecting another student to physical confinement or | ||
restraint, or maliciously taking any action that substantially | ||
harms another student's physical or emotional health or safety. | ||
(3) [ |
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to be harmed, using: | ||
(A) a firearm, as defined by Section 46.01(3), | ||
Penal Code; | ||
(B) a knife, as defined by Section 46.01(7), | ||
Penal Code; or | ||
(C) any other object to be used with intent to | ||
cause bodily harm. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 37.083, Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 37.083. DISCIPLINE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS; SEXUAL | ||
HARASSMENT POLICIES. (a) Each school district shall adopt and | ||
implement a discipline management program to be included in the | ||
district improvement plan under Section 11.252. The program must | ||
provide for prevention of and education concerning unwanted | ||
physical or verbal aggression, sexual harassment, and other forms | ||
of bullying [ |
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(b) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school | ||
shall, in consultation with any district- and campus-level | ||
committees established under Section 11.251, [ |
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implement a written policy concerning sexual harassment and other | ||
forms of bullying [ |
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district improvement plan under Section 11.252. The policy must: | ||
(1) include the definitions of bullying and | ||
cyberbullying assigned by Section 25.0342, including the | ||
applicability information provided by Section 25.0342(a-1); | ||
(2) establish a procedure for providing notice of an | ||
act of sexual harassment or another form of bullying to a parent or | ||
guardian of the victim and the parent or guardian of the perpetrator | ||
within 48 hours of the time the act is reported; and | ||
(3) include a procedure for investigating a reported | ||
act of sexual harassment or another form of bullying and for | ||
responding to and remediating any such substantiated act. | ||
(c) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school | ||
shall, to the greatest extent practicable, integrate the policy | ||
required by Subsection (b) into the curriculum, the student code of | ||
conduct, staff and volunteer training, and behavioral and violence | ||
prevention programs of the district or charter school. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2011-2012 | ||
school year. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |