Bill Text: TX HB3886 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the definitions of bullying and harassment and the behavior of students in public schools.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-24 - Referred to Public Education [HB3886 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB3886-Introduced.html
| 87R11289 MWC-F | ||
| By: Morales Shaw | H.B. No. 3886 | |
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| relating to the definitions of bullying and harassment and the | ||
| behavior of students in public schools. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 37.001(b)(2), Education Code, is amended | ||
| to read as follows: | ||
| (2) "Harassment": | ||
| (A) 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; and | ||
| (B) includes conduct described by Paragraph (A) | ||
| that is based on the actual or perceived race, color, national | ||
| origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or | ||
| expression, religion, or any other distinguishing characteristic | ||
| of a student or of a person with whom a student associates. | ||
| SECTION 2. Section 37.0832(a)(1), Education Code, is | ||
| amended to read as follows: | ||
| (1) "Bullying": | ||
| (A) means a single significant act or a pattern | ||
| of acts by one or more students directed at another student that | ||
| exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or | ||
| verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or | ||
| physical conduct that satisfies the applicability requirements | ||
| provided by Subsection (a-1), and that: | ||
| (i) has the effect or will have the effect | ||
| of physically 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; | ||
| (ii) is sufficiently severe, 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 educational process or the orderly operation of a | ||
| classroom or school; or | ||
| (iv) infringes on the rights of the victim | ||
| at school; and | ||
| (B) includes: | ||
| (i) cyberbullying; and | ||
| (ii) conduct described by Paragraph (A) | ||
| that is based on the actual or perceived race, color, national | ||
| origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or | ||
| expression, religion, or any other distinguishing characteristic | ||
| of a student or of a person with whom a student associates. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 | ||
| school year. | ||
| SECTION 4. 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, 2021. | ||
