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To amend sections 3313.666, 3313.667, 3319.073, and | 1 |
3333.31 of the Revised Code to enact the "Jessica | 2 |
Logan Act" regarding public schools' policies | 3 |
prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying | 4 |
and to qualify certain homeschooled students for | 5 |
in-state tuition at state institutions of higher | 6 |
education. | 7 |
Section 1. That sections 3313.666, 3313.667, 3319.073, and | 8 |
3333.31 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows: | 9 |
Sec. 3313.666. (A) As used in this section | 10 |
(1) "Electronic act" means an act committed through the use | 11 |
of a cellular telephone, computer, pager, personal communication | 12 |
device, or other electronic communication device. | 13 |
(2) "Harassment, intimidation, or bullying" means either of | 14 |
the following: | 15 |
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physical act that a student has exhibited toward another | 17 |
particular student more than once and the behavior both: | 18 |
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it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational | 21 |
environment for the other student. | 22 |
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(B) The board of education of each city, local, exempted | 24 |
village, and joint vocational school district shall establish a | 25 |
policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The | 26 |
policy shall be developed in consultation with parents, school | 27 |
employees, school volunteers, students, and community members. The | 28 |
policy shall include the following: | 29 |
(1) A statement prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or | 30 |
bullying of any student on school property, on a school bus, or at | 31 |
school-sponsored events and expressly providing for the | 32 |
possibility of suspension of a student found responsible for | 33 |
harassment, intimidation, or bullying by an electronic act; | 34 |
(2) A definition of harassment, intimidation, or bullying | 35 |
that | 36 |
section; | 37 |
(3) A procedure for reporting prohibited incidents; | 38 |
(4) A requirement that school personnel report prohibited | 39 |
incidents of which they are aware to the school principal or other | 40 |
administrator designated by the principal; | 41 |
(5) A requirement that | 42 |
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incident be notified and, to the extent permitted by section | 44 |
3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational Rights | 45 |
and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. | 46 |
amended, have access to any written reports pertaining to the | 47 |
prohibited incident; | 48 |
(6) A procedure for documenting any prohibited incident that | 49 |
is reported; | 50 |
(7) A procedure for responding to and investigating any | 51 |
reported incident; | 52 |
(8) A strategy for protecting a victim or other person from | 53 |
new or additional harassment, intimidation, or bullying, and from | 54 |
retaliation following a report, including a means by which a | 55 |
person may report an incident anonymously; | 56 |
(9) A disciplinary procedure for any student guilty of | 57 |
harassment, intimidation, or bullying, which shall not infringe on | 58 |
any student's rights under the first amendment to the Constitution | 59 |
of the United States; | 60 |
(10) A statement prohibiting students from deliberately | 61 |
making false reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying and | 62 |
a disciplinary procedure for any student responsible for | 63 |
deliberately making a false report of that nature; | 64 |
(11) A requirement that the district administration | 65 |
semiannually provide the president of the district board a written | 66 |
summary of all reported incidents and post the summary on its web | 67 |
site, if the district has a web site, to the extent permitted by | 68 |
section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational | 69 |
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. | 70 |
1232g, as amended. | 71 |
(C) Each board's policy shall appear in any student | 72 |
handbooks, and in any of the publications that set forth the | 73 |
comprehensive rules, procedures, and standards of conduct for | 74 |
schools and students in the district. The policy and an | 75 |
explanation of the seriousness of bullying by electronic means | 76 |
shall be made available to students in the district and to their | 77 |
custodial parents or guardians. Information regarding the policy | 78 |
shall be incorporated into employee training materials. | 79 |
(D)(1) To the extent that state or federal funds are | 80 |
appropriated for this purpose, each board shall require that all | 81 |
students enrolled in the district annually be provided with | 82 |
age-appropriate instruction, as determined by the board, on the | 83 |
board's policy, including a written or verbal discussion of the | 84 |
consequences for violations of the policy. | 85 |
(2) Each board shall require that once each school year a | 86 |
written statement describing the policy and the consequences for | 87 |
violations of the policy be sent to each student's custodial | 88 |
parent or guardian. The statement may be sent with regular student | 89 |
report cards or may be delivered electronically. | 90 |
(E) A school district employee, student, or volunteer shall | 91 |
be individually immune from liability in a civil action for | 92 |
damages arising from reporting an incident in accordance with a | 93 |
policy adopted pursuant to this section if that person reports an | 94 |
incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying promptly in good | 95 |
faith and in compliance with the procedures as specified in the | 96 |
policy. | 97 |
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nothing in this section prohibits a victim from seeking redress | 99 |
under any other provision of the Revised Code or common law that | 100 |
may apply. | 101 |
| 102 |
a substantive legal right for any person. | 103 |
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adopted under this section to include violence within a dating | 106 |
relationship and harassment, intimidation, or bullying by | 107 |
electronic means. | 108 |
Sec. 3313.667. (A) Any school district may form bullying | 109 |
prevention task forces, programs, and other initiatives involving | 110 |
volunteers, parents, law enforcement, and community members. | 111 |
(B) To the extent that state or federal funds are | 112 |
appropriated for these purposes, each school district shall | 113 |
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district's harassment, intimidation, or bullying policy adopted | 115 |
pursuant to section 3313.666 of the Revised Code to school | 116 |
employees and volunteers who have direct contact with students and | 117 |
are not subject to section 3319.073 of the Revised Code. Time | 118 |
spent by school employees in the training, workshops, or courses | 119 |
shall apply towards any state- or district-mandated continuing | 120 |
education requirements. | 121 |
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(C) This section does not create a new cause of action or a | 124 |
substantive legal right for any person. | 125 |
Sec. 3319.073. (A) The board of education of each city and | 126 |
exempted village school district and the governing board of each | 127 |
educational service center shall adopt or adapt the curriculum | 128 |
developed by the department of education for, or shall develop in | 129 |
consultation with public or private agencies or persons involved | 130 |
in child abuse prevention or intervention programs, a program of | 131 |
in-service training in the prevention of child abuse, violence, | 132 |
and substance abuse and the promotion of positive youth | 133 |
development. Each person employed by any school district or | 134 |
service center to work in a school as a nurse, teacher, counselor, | 135 |
school psychologist, or administrator shall complete at least four | 136 |
hours of the in-service training within two years of commencing | 137 |
employment with the district or center, and every five years | 138 |
thereafter. A person who is employed by any school district or | 139 |
service center to work in an elementary school as a nurse, | 140 |
teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator on March | 141 |
30, 2007, shall complete at least four hours of the in-service | 142 |
training not later than March 30, 2009, and every five years | 143 |
thereafter. A person who is employed by any school district or | 144 |
service center to work in a middle or high school as a nurse, | 145 |
teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator on | 146 |
October 16, 2009, shall complete at least four hours of the | 147 |
in-service training not later than October 16, 2011, and every | 148 |
five years thereafter. | 149 |
(B) Each board shall incorporate training in school safety | 150 |
and violence prevention into the in-service training required by | 151 |
division (A) of this section. For this purpose, the board shall | 152 |
adopt or adapt the curriculum developed by the department or shall | 153 |
develop its own curriculum in consultation with public or private | 154 |
agencies or persons involved in school safety and violence | 155 |
prevention programs. | 156 |
(C) Each board shall incorporate training on the board's | 157 |
harassment, intimidation, or bullying policy adopted under section | 158 |
3313.666 of the Revised Code into the in-service training required | 159 |
by division (A) of this section. Each board also shall incorporate | 160 |
training in the prevention of dating violence into the in-service | 161 |
training required by
that division | 162 |
and high school employees. The board shall develop its own | 163 |
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Sec. 3333.31. (A) For state subsidy and tuition surcharge | 165 |
purposes, status as a resident of Ohio shall be defined by the | 166 |
chancellor of the Ohio board of regents by rule promulgated | 167 |
pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. No adjudication as | 168 |
to the status of any person under such rule, however, shall be | 169 |
required to be made pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. | 170 |
The term "resident" for these purposes shall not be equated with | 171 |
the definition of that term as it is employed elsewhere under the | 172 |
laws of this state and other states, and shall not carry with it | 173 |
any of the legal connotations appurtenant thereto. Rather, except | 174 |
as provided in divisions (B) and (D) of this section, for such | 175 |
purposes, the rule promulgated under this section shall have the | 176 |
objective of excluding from treatment as residents those who are | 177 |
present in the state primarily for the purpose of attending a | 178 |
state-supported or state-assisted institution of higher education, | 179 |
and may prescribe presumptive rules, rebuttable or conclusive, as | 180 |
to such purpose based upon the source or sources of support of the | 181 |
student, residence prior to first enrollment, evidence of | 182 |
intention to remain in the state after completion of studies, or | 183 |
such other factors as the chancellor deems relevant. | 184 |
(B) The rules of the chancellor for determining student | 185 |
residency shall grant residency status to a veteran and to the | 186 |
veteran's spouse and any dependent of the veteran, if both of the | 187 |
following conditions are met: | 188 |
(1) The veteran either: | 189 |
(a) Served one or more years on active military duty and was | 190 |
honorably discharged or received a medical discharge that was | 191 |
related to the military service; | 192 |
(b) Was killed while serving on active military duty or has | 193 |
been declared to be missing in action or a prisoner of war. | 194 |
(2) If the veteran seeks residency status for tuition | 195 |
surcharge purposes, the veteran has established domicile in this | 196 |
state as of the first day of a term of enrollment in an | 197 |
institution of higher education. If the spouse or a dependent of | 198 |
the veteran seeks residency status for tuition surcharge purposes, | 199 |
the veteran and the spouse or dependent seeking residency status | 200 |
have established domicile in this state as of the first day of a | 201 |
term of enrollment in an institution of higher education, except | 202 |
that if the veteran was killed while serving on active military | 203 |
duty or has been declared to be missing in action or a prisoner of | 204 |
war, only the spouse or dependent seeking residency status shall | 205 |
be required to have established domicile in accordance with this | 206 |
division. | 207 |
(C) The rules of the chancellor for determining student | 208 |
residency shall not deny residency status to a student who is | 209 |
either a dependent child of a parent, or the spouse of a person | 210 |
who, as of the first day of a term of enrollment in an institution | 211 |
of higher education, has accepted full-time employment and | 212 |
established domicile in this state for reasons other than gaining | 213 |
the benefit of favorable tuition rates. | 214 |
Documentation of full-time employment and domicile shall | 215 |
include both of the following documents: | 216 |
(1) A sworn statement from the employer or the employer's | 217 |
representative on the letterhead of the employer or the employer's | 218 |
representative certifying that the parent or spouse of the student | 219 |
is employed full-time in Ohio; | 220 |
(2) A copy of the lease under which the parent or spouse is | 221 |
the lessee and occupant of rented residential property in the | 222 |
state, a copy of the closing statement on residential real | 223 |
property of which the parent or spouse is the owner and occupant | 224 |
in this state or, if the parent or spouse is not the lessee or | 225 |
owner of the residence in which the parent or spouse has | 226 |
established domicile, a letter from the owner of the residence | 227 |
certifying that the parent or spouse resides at that residence. | 228 |
Residency officers may also evaluate, in accordance with the | 229 |
chancellor's rule, requests for immediate residency status from | 230 |
dependent students whose parents are not living and whose domicile | 231 |
follows that of a legal guardian who has accepted full-time | 232 |
employment and established domicile in the state for reasons other | 233 |
than gaining the benefit of favorable tuition rates. | 234 |
(D)(1) The rules of the chancellor for determining student | 235 |
residency shall grant residency status to a person who, while a | 236 |
resident of this state for state subsidy and tuition surcharge | 237 |
purposes, graduated from a high school in this state or completed | 238 |
the final year of instruction at home as authorized under section | 239 |
3321.04 of the Revised Code, if the person enrolls in an | 240 |
institution of higher education and establishes domicile in this | 241 |
state, regardless of the student's residence prior to that | 242 |
enrollment. | 243 |
(2) The rules of the chancellor for determining student | 244 |
residency shall not grant residency status to an alien if the | 245 |
alien is not also an immigrant or a nonimmigrant. | 246 |
(E) As used in this section: | 247 |
(1) "Dependent," "domicile," "institution of higher | 248 |
education," and "residency officer" have the meanings ascribed in | 249 |
the chancellor's rules adopted under this section. | 250 |
(2) "Alien" means a person who is not a United States citizen | 251 |
or a United States national. | 252 |
(3) "Immigrant" means an alien who has been granted the right | 253 |
by the United States bureau of citizenship and immigration | 254 |
services to reside permanently in the United States and to work | 255 |
without restrictions in the United States. | 256 |
(4) "Nonimmigrant" means an alien who has been granted the | 257 |
right by the United States bureau of citizenship and immigration | 258 |
services to reside temporarily in the United States. | 259 |
Section 2. That existing sections 3313.666, 3313.667, | 260 |
3319.073, and 3333.31 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 261 |
Section 3. The amendments to sections 3313.666, 3313.667, | 262 |
and 3319.073 of the Revised Code by of this act shall take effect | 263 |
six months after the effective date of this act. | 264 |
Section 4. Not later than six months after the effective | 265 |
date of this section, the State Board of Education shall update | 266 |
its model policy to prohibit harassment, intimidation, or bullying | 267 |
adopted under section 3301.22 of the Revised Code to include | 268 |
harassment, intimidation, or bullying by electronic means. | 269 |
Section 5. This act shall be known as the "Jessica Logan | 270 |
Act." | 271 |