House Bill 270 Summary

• Expands the definition of bullying to include acts that cause students to harm or attempt to harm themselves, in addition to existing provisions covering threats and hostile educational environments.

• Requires school employees to report incidents of bullying or face potential termination, and creates civil liability for schools, school districts, and individuals who fail to report bullying if failure to report is the proximate cause of a student's self-harm.

• Mandates inclusion of bullying prevention education in school suicide prevention training and policies for all school district employees, both existing and newly hired.

• Amends criminal simple assault law to include bullying as defined in education code, making certain bullying conduct a criminal offense punishable by up to $500 fine or six months in county jail.

• Takes effect July 1, 2019.