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S. B. No. 127 As IntroducedAs Introduced
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Cafaro, Turner, Tavares, Skindell, Sawyer
A BILL
To amend sections 3313.666, 3313.667, and 3319.073 of
the Revised Code to enact the "Jessica Logan Act"
to require that public school bullying policies
prohibit bullying by electronic means and address
certain acts that occur off school property and to
require staff training on the bullying policy.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3313.666, 3313.667, and 3319.073 of
the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3313.666. (A) As used in this section, "harassment:
(1) "Electronic act" means an act committed through the use
of a cellular telephone, computer, pager, personal communication
device, or other electronic communication device.
(2) "Harassment, intimidation, or bullying" means either of
the following:
(1)(a) Any intentional written, verbal, electronic, or
physical act that a student has exhibited toward another
particular student more than once and the behavior both:
(a)(i) Causes mental or physical harm to the other student;
(b)(ii) Is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that
it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational
environment for the other student.
(2)(b) Violence within a dating relationship.
(B) The board of education of each city, local, exempted
village, and joint vocational school district shall establish and
annually review a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or
bullying. The policy shall be developed in consultation with
parents, school employees, school volunteers, students, and
community members. The policy shall include the following:
(1) A statement prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or
bullying of any student on school property or a school bus, at
school-sponsored events, or, if the harassment, intimidation, or
bullying materially or substantially disrupts the educational
environment and discipline of the school, off school property and
expressly providing for the possibility of suspension of a student
found guilty of harassment, intimidation, or bullying by an
electronic act;
(2) A definition of harassment, intimidation, or bullying
that shall include includes the definition in division (A) of this
section;
(3) A procedure for reporting prohibited incidents;
(4) A requirement that school personnel report prohibited
incidents of which they are aware to the school principal or other
administrator designated by the principal;
(5) A requirement that parents or guardians of any student
involved in a prohibited incident be notified and, to the extent
permitted by section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20
U.S.C. 1232q 1232g, as amended, have access to any written reports
pertaining to the prohibited incident;
(6) A procedure for documenting any prohibited incident that
is reported;
(7) A procedure for responding to and investigating any
reported incident;
(8) A strategy for protecting a victim or other person from
new or additional harassment, intimidation, or bullying, and from
retaliation following a report, including a means by which a
person may report an incident anonymously;
(9) A disciplinary procedure for any student guilty of
harassment, intimidation, or bullying, which shall not infringe on
any student's rights under the first amendment to the Constitution
of the United States;
(10) A statement prohibiting students from deliberately
making false reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying and
a disciplinary procedure for any student guilty of deliberately
making a false report of that nature;
(11) A requirement that the district administration
semiannually provide the president of the district board a written
summary of all reported incidents and post the summary on its web
site, if the district has a web site, to the extent permitted by
section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232q
1232g, as amended.
(C) Each board's policy shall appear in any student
handbooks, and in any of the publications that set forth the
comprehensive rules, procedures, and standards of conduct for
schools and students in the district. The policy and an
explanation of the seriousness of bullying by electronic means
shall be made available to students in the district and to their
parents and guardians. Information regarding the policy shall be
incorporated into employee training materials.
(D) A school district employee, student, or volunteer shall
be individually immune from liability in a civil action for
damages arising from reporting an incident in accordance with a
policy adopted pursuant to this section if that person reports an
incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying promptly in good
faith and in compliance with the procedures as specified in the
policy.
(E) Except as provided in division (D) of this section,
nothing in this section prohibits a victim from seeking redress
under any other provision of the Revised Code or common law that
may apply.
(F) This section does not create a new cause of action or a
substantive legal right for any person.
(G) Not later than six months after the effective date of
this amendment September 29, 2010, each board shall update the
policy adopted under this section to include violence within a
dating relationship.
Not later than six months after the effective
date of this amendment, each board shall update the policy to
include harassment, intimidation, or bullying by electronic means.
Sec. 3313.667. (A) Any school district may form bullying
prevention task forces, programs, and other initiatives involving
volunteers, parents, law enforcement, and community members.
(B) To the extent that state or federal funds are
appropriated for these purposes, each school district shall:
(1) Provide training, workshops, or courses on the district's
harassment, intimidation, or bullying policy adopted pursuant to
section 3313.666 of the Revised Code to school employees and
volunteers who have direct contact with students and are not
subject to section 3319.073 of the Revised Code. Time spent by
school employees in the training, workshops, or courses shall
apply towards any state- or district-mandated continuing education
requirements.
(2) Develop a process for educating students about the
policy.
(C) This section does not create a new cause of action or a
substantive legal right for any person.
Sec. 3319.073. (A) The board of education of each city and
exempted village school district and the governing board of each
educational service center shall adopt or adapt the curriculum
developed by the department of education for, or shall develop in
consultation with public or private agencies or persons involved
in child abuse prevention or intervention programs, a program of
in-service training in the prevention of child abuse, violence,
and substance abuse and the promotion of positive youth
development. Each person employed by any school district or
service center to work in a school as a nurse, teacher, counselor,
school psychologist, or administrator shall complete at least four
hours of the in-service training within two years of commencing
employment with the district or center, and every five years
thereafter. A person who is employed by any school district or
service center to work in an elementary school as a nurse,
teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator on March
30, 2007, shall complete at least four hours of the in-service
training not later than March 30, 2009, and every five years
thereafter. A person who is employed by any school district or
service center to work in a middle or high school as a nurse,
teacher, counselor, school psychologist, or administrator on
October 16, 2009, shall complete at least four hours of the
in-service training not later than October 16, 2011, and every
five years thereafter.
(B) Each board shall incorporate training in school safety
and violence prevention into the in-service training required by
division (A) of this section. For this purpose, the board shall
adopt or adapt the curriculum developed by the department or shall
develop its own curriculum in consultation with public or private
agencies or persons involved in school safety and violence
prevention programs.
(C) Each board shall incorporate training on the board's
harassment, intimidation, or bullying policy adopted under section
3313.666 of the Revised Code into the in-service training required
by division (A) of this section. Each board also shall incorporate
training in the prevention of dating violence into the in-service
training required by
that division (A) of this section for middle
and high school employees. The board shall develop its own
curriculum curricula for this purpose these purposes.
Section 2. That existing sections 3313.666, 3313.667, and
3319.073 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. Not later than six months after the effective
date of this section, the State Board of Education shall update
its model policy to prohibit harassment, intimidation, or bullying
adopted under section 3301.22 of the Revised Code to include
harassment, intimidation, or bullying by electronic means.
Section 4. This act shall be known as the "Jessica Logan
Act."
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