Bill Text: TX SB2050 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to bullying and cyberbullying in public schools.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-18 - Effective immediately [SB2050 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB2050-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 2050 |
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relating to bullying and cyberbullying in public schools. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 37.0832, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(c) The board of trustees of each school district shall | ||
adopt a policy, including any necessary procedures, concerning | ||
bullying that: | ||
(1) prohibits the bullying of a student; | ||
(2) prevents and mediates bullying incidents between | ||
students that: | ||
(A) interfere with a student's educational | ||
opportunities; or | ||
(B) substantially disrupt the orderly operation | ||
of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related | ||
activity; | ||
(3) [ |
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including a victim, a witness, or another person, who in good faith | ||
provides information concerning an incident of bullying; | ||
(4) [ |
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notice of an incident of bullying to: | ||
(A) a parent or guardian of the alleged victim on | ||
or before the third business day after the date the incident is | ||
reported; and | ||
(B) a parent or guardian of the alleged bully | ||
within a reasonable amount of time after the incident; | ||
(5) [ |
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take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying; | ||
(6) [ |
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for a student who is a victim of or a witness to bullying or who | ||
engages in bullying; | ||
(7) [ |
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incident of bullying, including procedures for a student to | ||
anonymously report an incident of bullying, investigating a | ||
reported incident of bullying, and determining whether the reported | ||
incident of bullying occurred; | ||
(8) [ |
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measure on a student who, after an investigation, is found to be a | ||
victim of bullying, on the basis of that student's use of reasonable | ||
self-defense in response to the bullying; [ |
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(9) [ |
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student with disabilities comply with applicable requirements | ||
under federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities | ||
Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq.); and | ||
(10) complies with the minimum standards adopted by | ||
the agency under Subsection (c-1). | ||
(c-1) The agency shall adopt minimum standards for a school | ||
district's policy under Subsection (c). The standards must: | ||
(1) include an emphasis on bullying prevention by | ||
focusing on school climate and building healthy relationships | ||
between students and staff; | ||
(2) require each district campus to establish a | ||
committee to address bullying by focusing on prevention efforts and | ||
health and wellness initiatives; | ||
(3) require students at each grade level to meet | ||
periodically for instruction on building relationships and | ||
preventing bullying, including cyberbullying; | ||
(4) include an emphasis on increasing student | ||
reporting of bullying incidents to school employees by: | ||
(A) increasing awareness about district | ||
reporting procedures; and | ||
(B) providing for anonymous reporting of | ||
bullying incidents; | ||
(5) require districts to: | ||
(A) collect information annually through student | ||
surveys on bullying, including cyberbullying; and | ||
(B) use those survey results to develop action | ||
plans to address student concerns regarding bullying, including | ||
cyberbullying; and | ||
(6) require districts to develop a rubric or checklist | ||
to assess an incident of bullying and to determine the district's | ||
response to the incident. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 48.009, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (b-4) to read as follows: | ||
(b-4) The commissioner by rule shall require each school | ||
district and open-enrollment charter school to annually report | ||
through the Public Education Information Management System the | ||
number of reported incidents of bullying that have occurred at each | ||
campus. The commissioner's rules shall require a district or | ||
school to specify the number of incidents of bullying that included | ||
cyberbullying. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 37.0832(f), Education Code, is repealed. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 | ||
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, 2021. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2050 passed the Senate on | ||
April 29, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 29, 2021, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2050 passed the House, with | ||
amendment, on May 26, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 105, | ||
Nays 42, one present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |