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| To amend sections 3313.666 and 3313.667 of the | 1 |
| Revised Code to enact the School Day Security and | 2 |
| Anti-Bullying Act to require age-appropriate | 3 |
| instruction on and parental notification of public | 4 |
| schools' policies prohibiting harassment, | 5 |
| intimidation, or bullying. | 6 |
| Section 1. That sections 3313.666 and 3313.667 of the Revised | 7 |
| Code be amended to read as follows: | 8 |
| Sec. 3313.666. (A) As used in this section, "harassment, | 9 |
| intimidation, or bullying" means either of the following: | 10 |
| (1) Any intentional written, verbal, or physical act that a | 11 |
| student has exhibited toward another particular student more than | 12 |
| once and the behavior both: | 13 |
| (a) Causes mental or physical harm to the other student; | 14 |
| (b) Is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it | 15 |
| creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational | 16 |
| environment for the other student. | 17 |
| (2) Violence within a dating relationship. | 18 |
| (B) The board of education of each city, local, exempted | 19 |
| village, and joint vocational school district shall establish a | 20 |
| policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The | 21 |
| policy shall be developed in consultation with parents, school | 22 |
| employees, school volunteers, students, and community members. The | 23 |
| policy shall include the following: | 24 |
| (1) A statement prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or | 25 |
| bullying of any student on school property or at school-sponsored | 26 |
| events; | 27 |
| (2) A definition of harassment, intimidation, or bullying | 28 |
| that shall include the definition in division (A) of this section; | 29 |
| (3) A procedure for reporting prohibited incidents; | 30 |
| (4) A requirement that school personnel report prohibited | 31 |
| incidents of which they are aware to the school principal or other | 32 |
| administrator designated by the principal; | 33 |
| (5) A requirement that parents or guardians of any student | 34 |
| involved in a prohibited incident be notified and, to the extent | 35 |
| permitted by section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family | 36 |
| Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 | 37 |
|
U.S.C. | 38 |
| pertaining to the prohibited incident; | 39 |
| (6) A procedure for documenting any prohibited incident that | 40 |
| is reported; | 41 |
| (7) A procedure for responding to and investigating any | 42 |
| reported incident; | 43 |
| (8) A strategy for protecting a victim from additional | 44 |
| harassment, intimidation, or bullying, and from retaliation | 45 |
| following a report; | 46 |
| (9) A disciplinary procedure for any student guilty of | 47 |
| harassment, intimidation, or bullying, which shall not infringe on | 48 |
| any student's rights under the first amendment to the Constitution | 49 |
| of the United States; | 50 |
| (10) A requirement that the district administration | 51 |
| semiannually provide the president of the district board a written | 52 |
| summary of all reported incidents and post the summary on its web | 53 |
| site, if the district has a web site, to the extent permitted by | 54 |
| section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational | 55 |
|
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. | 56 |
| 1232g, as amended. | 57 |
| (C) Each board's policy shall appear in any student | 58 |
| handbooks, and in any of the publications that set forth the | 59 |
| comprehensive rules, procedures, and standards of conduct for | 60 |
| schools and students in the district. Information regarding the | 61 |
| policy shall be incorporated into employee training materials. | 62 |
| (D) Each board shall require that twice in each school year | 63 |
| each student enrolled in the district be provided with | 64 |
| age-appropriate instruction on the board's policy, including a | 65 |
| discussion of the consequences for violations of the policy. The | 66 |
| first instruction shall be presented near the beginning of the | 67 |
| school year and the second instruction shall be presented after | 68 |
| the first day of January of that school year. | 69 |
| Each board also shall require that once each school year a | 70 |
| written statement describing the policy and the consequences for | 71 |
| violations of the policy be sent to each student's parent along | 72 |
| with an acknowledgement of receipt of the statement to be signed | 73 |
| by the parent and returned to the student's school. The statement | 74 |
| may be sent with regular student report cards. | 75 |
| (E) A school district employee, student, or volunteer shall | 76 |
| be individually immune from liability in a civil action for | 77 |
| damages arising from reporting an incident in accordance with a | 78 |
| policy adopted pursuant to this section if that person reports an | 79 |
| incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying promptly in good | 80 |
| faith and in compliance with the procedures as specified in the | 81 |
| policy. | 82 |
| | 83 |
| nothing in this section prohibits a victim from seeking redress | 84 |
| under any other provision of the Revised Code or common law that | 85 |
| may apply. | 86 |
| | 87 |
| a substantive legal right for any person. | 88 |
| | 89 |
| 90 | |
| policy adopted under this section to include violence within a | 91 |
| dating relationship. | 92 |
| Sec. 3313.667. (A) Any school district may form bullying | 93 |
| prevention task forces, programs, and other initiatives involving | 94 |
| volunteers, parents, law enforcement, and community members. | 95 |
| (B) To the extent that state or federal funds are | 96 |
|
appropriated for these purposes, each school district shall | 97 |
| | 98 |
| district's harassment, intimidation, or bullying policy adopted | 99 |
| pursuant to section 3313.666 of the Revised Code to school | 100 |
| employees and volunteers who have direct contact with students. | 101 |
| Time spent by school employees in the training, workshops, or | 102 |
| courses shall apply towards any state- or district-mandated | 103 |
| continuing education requirements. | 104 |
| | 105 |
| 106 |
| (C) This section does not create a new cause of action or a | 107 |
| substantive legal right for any person. | 108 |
| Section 2. That existing sections 3313.666 and 3313.667 of | 109 |
| the Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 110 |
| Section 3. This act shall be known as the "School Day | 111 |
| Security and Anti-Bullying Act." The purpose of this act is to | 112 |
| provide a positive school day for each student and a school | 113 |
| environment where every student feels safe. | 114 |