.
A special thank you to Ravin Hill, Texas School Business
Magazine, for submitting the new additions to the Texas Anti Bullying
Laws.
Synopsis: Normally, Texas
would get a new grade of "A-" for points, www.bullypolice.org/grade.html,
under the "Making the Grade" point system but these new additions are so
good, ie., parental notification, counseling for bullies AND victims, sexting
and cyberbullying clauses, etc., that I have decided to give them an A++
rating. In the future, the "grading scale" will become an ungraded
total point system, and Texas will lose points for not having a strong
accountability clause (point 11), protections against reprisal, retaliation
and false accusation (point 8) and better protections against lawsuits
upon compliance to policies (point 9).
TEXAS 
A++
Passed in the Texas 2011 Session:
SB 407 Requires the Texas
School Safety Center to develop programs that address sexting (sexually
explicit material or photos sent by text message), and better responses
to incidents of bullying and cyberbullying (bullying through the
Internet).
SB 471 and HB 1942 Starting
in 2012-2013 Expands the requirements on school districts to address
bullying and harassment, such as parental notification, programs
for students and staff, providing counseling to bullies and victims
and protecting those who report bullying. Charter schools
also are required to adopt a policy on sexual abuse starting this year.
HB 1942 Expands the definition
of bullying and allows school districts to transfer the bully to another
classroom or campus within the district.
HB 1386 Requires the development
of intervention and prevention programs to train school staff to
recognize potential suicide victims, to include those students targeted
by bullies.
H.B. No. 283 (2005 Session)
AN ACT
relating to admission, assignment, and conduct of certain
public school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.001(b), Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The board of trustees of a school district
or its designee shall admit into the public schools of the district free
of tuition a person who is over five and younger than 21 years of age on
the first day of September of the school year in which admission is sought
if:....
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 25, Education Code,
is amended by adding Section 25.0341 to read as follows:
Sec. 25.0341. TRANSFER OF VICTIMS OF BULLYING.
(a) In this section, "bullying" means engaging
in written or verbal expression or physical conduct that a school district
board of trustees or the board's designee determines:
(1) 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; or
(2) is sufficiently severe, persistent,
or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating,
threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student.
(b) On the request of a parent or other person
with authority to act on behalf of a student who is a victim of bullying,
the board of trustees of a school district or the board's designee shall
transfer the victim to:
(1) another classroom at the campus to which
the victim was assigned at the time the bullying occurred; or
(2) a campus in the school district other
than the campus to which the victim was assigned at the time the bullying
occurred.
(c) The board of trustees or the board's
designee shall verify that a student has been a victim of bullying before
transferring the student under this section.
(d) The board of trustees or the board's
designee may consider past student behavior when identifying a bully.
(e) The determination by the board of trustees
or the board's designee is final and may not be appealed.
(f) A school district is not required to
provide transportation to a student who transfers to another campus under
Subsection (b)(2).
(g) Section 25.034 does not apply to a transfer
under this section.
SECTION 3. Section 37.001, Education Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (b) and (b-1) 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 whether consideration is given
to self-defense as a factor in a decision to order suspension, removal
to a disciplinary alternative education program, or expulsion;
(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;
[and]
(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;
and
(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.
(b) In this section:
(1) "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.
(2) "Hit list" means a list of people targeted
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. (b-1) The methods adopted
under Subsection (a)(8) must provide that a student who is enrolled in
a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, may not be
disciplined for conduct prohibited in accordance with Subsection (a)(7)
until an admission, review, and dismissal committee meeting has been held
to review the conduct.
SECTION 4. Section 37.083(a), Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(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 in school, on school grounds,
and in school vehicles.
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, 2005.
More laws "related" to bullying...
(Selected) TEXAS EDUCATION CODE SUBTITLE G. SAFE
SCHOOLS
CHAPTER 37. DISCIPLINE; LAW AND ORDER
SUBCHAPTER A. ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS FOR BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT
§ 37.001. STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT.
(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 whether consideration
is given to self-defense as a factor in a decision to order suspension,
removal to a disciplinary alternative education program, or expulsion;
(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;
and
(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.
(b) Repealed by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch.
1055, § 30.
(c) Once the student code of conduct is promulgated,
any change or amendment must be approved by the board of trustees.
(d) Each school year, a school district shall
provide parents notice of and information regarding the student code of
conduct.
§ 37.006. REMOVAL FOR CERTAIN CONDUCT.
(a) A student shall be removed from class and placed
in a disciplinary alternative education program as provided by Section
37.008 if the student:
...(d) In addition to Subsections (a), (b),
and (c), a student may be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary
alternative education program under Section 37.008 based on conduct occurring
off campus and while the student is not in attendance at a school-sponsored
or school-related activity if:
...(2) the continued presence of the student in
the regular classroom
threatens the safety of other students or teachers
or will be detrimental to the educational process.
§ 37.0081. PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN STUDENTS
IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
subchapter, the board of trustees of a school district, or the board's
designee, after an opportunity for a hearing may elect to place a student
in a disciplinary alternative education program under Section 37.008 if:
...(2) the board or the board's designee
determines that the student's presence in the regular classroom:
(A) threatens the safety of other
students or teachers;
(B) will be detrimental to the educational
process; or
(C) is not in the best interests of
the district's students.
SUBCHAPTER F. HAZING
§ 37.151. DEFINITIONS. In this
subchapter:
(1) "Educational institution" includes a
public or private high school.
(2) "Pledge" means any person who has been
accepted by, is considering an offer of membership from, or is in the process
of qualifying for membership in an organization.
(3) "Pledging" means any action or activity
related to becoming a member of an organization.
(4) "Student" means any person who:
(A) is registered in or in attendance
at an educational institution;
(B) has been accepted for admission
at the educational institution where the hazing incident occurs;
or
(C) intends to attend an educational
institution during any of its regular sessions after a period of scheduled
vacation.
(5) "Organization" means a fraternity, sorority,
association, corporation, order, society, corps, club, or service, social,
or similar group, whose members are primarily students.
(6) "Hazing" means any intentional, knowing,
or reckless act, occurring on or off the campus of an educational institution,
by one person alone or acting with others, directed against a student,
that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for
the purpose of pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding
office in, or maintaining membership in an organization. The term
includes:
(A) any type of physical brutality,
such as whipping, beating, striking, branding, electronic shocking, placing
of a harmful substance on the body, or similar activity;
(B) any type of physical activity,
such as sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small
space, calisthenics, or other activity that subjects the student to an
unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical
health or safety of the student;
(C) any activity involving consumption
of a food, liquid, alcoholic beverage, liquor, drug, or other substance
that subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely
affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student;
(D) any activity that intimidates
or threatens the student with ostracism, that subjects the student to extreme
mental stress, shame, or humiliation, that adversely affects the mental
health or dignity of the student or discourages the student from entering
or remaining registered in an educational institution, or that may reasonably
be expected to cause a student to leave the organization or the institution
rather than submit to acts described in this subdivision; and
(E) any activity that induces, causes, or requires
the student to perform a duty or task that involves a violation of the
Penal Code.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff.
May 30, 1995.
§ 37.152. PERSONAL HAZING OFFENSE.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) engages in hazing;
(2) solicits, encourages, directs, aids,
or attempts to aid another in engaging in hazing;
(3) recklessly permits hazing to occur;
or
(4) has firsthand knowledge of the planning
of a specific hazing incident involving a student in an educational institution,
or has firsthand knowledge that a specific hazing incident has occurred,
and knowingly fails to report that knowledge in writing to the dean of
students or other appropriate official of the institution.
(b) The offense of failing to report is a
Class B misdemeanor.
(c) Any other offense under this section
that does not cause serious bodily injury to another is a Class B misdemeanor.
(d) Any other offense under this section
that causes serious bodily injury to another is a Class A misdemeanor.
(e) Any other offense under this section
that causes the death of another is a state jail felony.
(f) Except if an offense causes the death
of a student, in sentencing a person convicted of an offense under this
section, the court may require the person to perform community service,
subject to the same conditions imposed on a person placed on community
supervision under Section 11, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure,
for an appropriate period of time in lieu of confinement in county jail
or in lieu of a part of the time the person is sentenced to confinement
in county jail.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff.
May 30, 1995.
§ 37.153. ORGANIZATION HAZING OFFENSE.
(a) An organization commits an offense if the organization
condones or encourages hazing or if an officer or any combination of members,
pledges, or alumni of tHe organization commits or assists in the commission
of hazing.
(b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by:
(1) a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more
than $10,000; or
(2) if the court finds that the offense
caused personal injury, property damage, or other loss, a fine of not less
than $5,000 nor more than double the amount lost or expenses incurred because
of the injury, damage, or loss.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff.
May 30, 1995.
§ 37.154. CONSENT NOT A DEFENSE.
It is not a defense to prosecution of an offense under this subchapter
that the person against whom the hazing was directed consented to or acquiesced
in the hazing activity.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff.
May 30, 1995.
§ 37.155. IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION
AVAILABLE.
In the prosecution of an offense under this subchapter,
the court may grant immunity from prosecution for the offense to each person
who is subpoenaed to testify for the prosecution and who does testify for
the prosecution. Any person reporting a specific hazing incident
involving a student in an educational institution to the dean of students
or other appropriate official of the institution is immune from civil or
criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed as a result
of the report. Immunity extends to
participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from
the report. A person reporting in bad faith or with malice is not
protected by this section.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, § 1, eff.
May 30, 1995.
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