Senate Bill 159 Summary

• School districts and public school academies must adopt a policy prohibiting harassment or bullying at school by December 31, 2009, developed through a process including parents, employees, pupils, and community representatives.

• Required policy components include definitions of harassment and bullying, expected pupil behavior, age-appropriate consequences, reporting procedures (including anonymous reporting), and investigation procedures with 3-day completion timelines.

• Policies must address response ranges for incidents based on severity, prohibit retaliation against reporters, require school employee training, and mandate inclusion in student handbooks and comprehensive school publications.

• Bullying is defined as conduct directed at pupils that substantially interferes with education, causes emotional distress or reasonable fear of physical harm, and is based on actual or perceived protected characteristics (religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, etc.) or association with protected persons.

• Schools must report incidents to law enforcement when criminal activity occurs, provide directory information to law enforcement upon request, and establish annual reporting procedures to the state department; employees reporting incidents in good faith are protected from liability for failure to remedy reported incidents.