Dating violence prevention

Replaces the House's requirement for school districts to adopt a specific policy to prevent and address incidents of dating violence at school with a requirement for school districts, community (charter) schools, and STEM schools to incorporate dating violence into their existing policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying.

Directs the State Board of Education to update its model policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying to include dating violence (rather than to develop a model dating violence prevention policy, as in the House version).

Requires school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and educational service centers to incorporate dating violence prevention into the in-service training in child abuse, violence prevention, and substance abuse required by continuing law for middle and high school employees who work as teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, or school psychologists (rather than requiring separate dating violence prevention training for those employees, as in the House version).

Removes the House provision requiring the State Board of Education to adopt standards for the dating violence prevention education required in grades 7 to 12 and instead directs the Department of Education to provide on its web site links to free curricula addressing dating violence prevention.

Removes the definitions of "dating violence" and "dating partner."

Other provisions

Directs the Department of Education to reevaluate each community school that was ordered to close at the end of the 2009-2010 school year for poor academic performance to determine whether the school still meets the closure criteria when the report card ratings for its first two years of operation are excluded, and permits each community school that no longer meets the criteria to remain open after that school year.

Revises the criminal offenses that disqualify school bus drivers for employment by making them subject to the same disqualifying offenses that apply to other non-licensed school personnel (rather than those offenses that apply to licensed educators, as in current law) until the Department of Education amends its existing rule regarding employment of bus drivers with criminal histories.

H0019-A-128.docx/ar

12/16/09