Senate Bill 1514 (2021) — Bullying in public K-12 educational institutions
SB 1514
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1514 By Senator Book 32-01283-21 20211514__ Page 1 of 6 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to bullying in public K-12 educational 2 institutions; amending s. 1006.147, F.S.; revising the 3 definition of the term “bullying”; requiring school 4 districts to adopt and review every 3 years a zero-5 tolerance policy prohibiting bullying and harassment 6 of a student or employee of a public K-12 educational 7 institution; requiring a district’s policy to 8 substantially conform to the Department of Education’s 9 model zero-tolerance policy; requiring a district’s 10 policy to contain specified consequences for a student 11 who commits
an act of bullying or harassment; 12 requiring the Department of Education to fine a 13 district school board if the department finds the 14 district school board has failed to enforce the school 15 district’s zero-tolerance policy; specifying the 16 amounts for the fine; authorizing a district school 17 board to require a teacher to pay half of the fine if 18 the failure was due to
an act or omission of the 19 teacher; requiring a district school board to deny 20 employment to or terminate a principal or teacher 21 responsible for three enforcement failures; requiring 22 the department to transfer any sums collected to the 23 Chief Financial Officer to be deposited in the General 24 Revenue Fund; providing an effective date. 25 26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27 28
Section 1. Paragraph (
a) of subsection (3) and subsection 29
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1514 32-01283-21 20211514__ Page 2 of 6 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (4) of
section 1006.147, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 30 1006.147 Bullying and harassment prohibited.— 31
(3) For purposes of this section: 32 (a) “Bullying” includes cyberbullying and means 33 systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or 34 psychological distress on one or more students and may involve: 35 1. Teasing, including unkind words; 36 2. Social exclusion; 37 3. Threat; 38 4. Intimidation; 39 5. Stalking; 40 6. Intentionally touching another person against the 41 person’s will or without his or her consent; 42 7. Physical violence; 43 8.7. Theft; 44 9.8. Sexual, religious, or racial harassment; 45 10.9. Public or private humiliation; or 46 11.10. Destruction of property. 47
(4) Each school district shall adopt and review at least 48 every 3 years a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting bullying and 49 harassment of a student or employee of a public K-12 educational 50 institution. Each school district’s zero-tolerance policy shall 51 be in substantial conformity with the Department of Education’s 52 model zero-tolerance policy. The school district bullying and 53 harassment zero-tolerance policy shall afford all students the 54 same protection regardless of their status under the law.
The 55 school district may establish separate discrimination policies 56 that include categories of students. The school district shall 57 involve students, parents, teachers, administrators, school 58
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1514 32-01283-21 20211514__ Page 3 of 6 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. staff, school volunteers, community representatives, and local 59 law enforcement agencies in the process of adopting and 60 reviewing the zero-tolerance policy. The school district zero-61 tolerance policy must be implemented by each school principal in 62 a manner that is ongoing throughout the school year and 63 integrated with the school’s curriculum, bullying prevention and 64 intervention program, discipline policies, and other violence 65 prevention efforts. 66 (
a) The school district zero-tolerance policy must contain, 67 at a minimum, the following components: 68 1.(
a) A statement prohibiting bullying and harassment. 69 2.(
b) A definition of bullying and a definition of 70 harassment that include the
definitions listed in this section. 71 3.(
c) A description of the type of behavior expected from 72 each student and employee of a public K-12 educational 73 institution. 74 4.(
d) The consequences for a student or employee of a 75 public K-12 educational institution who commits
an act of 76 bullying or harassment. The school district’s zero-tolerance 77 policy concerning the consequences for a student who commits an 78 act of bullying or harassment must provide for all of the 79 following: 80 a. For a first act of bullying or harassment, the student 81 and his or her parent shall sign a written report prepared by 82 the school which documents the incident. A school guidance 83 counselor and the school principal shall also sign the report. 84 b. For a second act of bullying or harassment, an in-person 85 meeting must occur between the student, his or her parent, a 86 school guidance counselor, and the school principal. The school 87
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1514 32-01283-21 20211514__ Page 4 of 6 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. shall also prepare a written report in accordance with this 88 subparagraph. 89 c. For a third act of bullying or harassment, the school’s 90 principal shall recommend the expulsion of the student to the 91 district school superintendent pursuant to s. 1006.09. 92 5.(
e) The consequences for a student or employee of a 93 public K-12 educational institution who is found to have 94 wrongfully and intentionally accused another of
an act of 95 bullying or harassment. 96 6.(
f) A procedure for receiving reports of an alleged act 97 of bullying or harassment, including provisions that permit a 98 person to anonymously report such
an act. However, this 99 subparagraph paragraph does not permit formal disciplinary 100 action to be based solely on an anonymous report. 101 7.(
g) A procedure for the prompt investigation of a report 102 of bullying or harassment and the persons responsible for the 103 investigation. The investigation of a reported act of bullying 104 or harassment is deemed to be a school-related activity and 105 begins with a report of such
an act. Incidents that require a 106 reasonable investigation when reported to appropriate school 107 authorities shall include alleged incidents of bullying or 108 harassment allegedly committed against a child while the child 109 is en route to school aboard a school bus or at a school bus 110 stop. 111 8.(
h) A process to investigate whether a reported act of 112 bullying or harassment is within the scope of the district 113 school system and, if not, a process for referral of such
an act 114 to the appropriate jurisdiction. Computers without web-filtering 115 software or computers with web-filtering software that is 116
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1514 32-01283-21 20211514__ Page 5 of 6 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. disabled shall be used when complaints of cyberbullying are 117 investigated. 118 9.(
i) A procedure for providing immediate notification to 119 the parents of a victim of bullying or harassment and the 120 parents of the perpetrator of
an act of bullying or harassment, 121 as well as notification to all local agencies where criminal 122 charges may be pursued against the perpetrator. 123 10.(
j) A procedure to refer victims and perpetrators of 124 bullying or harassment for counseling. 125 11.(
k) A procedure for including incidents of bullying or 126 harassment in the school’s report of data concerning school 127 safety and discipline required under s. 1006.09(6). The report 128 must include each incident of bullying or harassment and the 129 resulting consequences, including discipline and referrals. The 130 report must include in a separate
section each alleged incident 131 of bullying or harassment that does not meet the criteria of a 132 prohibited act under this
section with recommendations regarding 133 such incidents. The department of Education shall aggregate 134 information contained in the reports. 135 12.(
l) A list of programs authorized by the school district 136 that provide instruction to students, parents, teachers, school 137 administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers on 138 identifying, preventing, and responding to bullying or 139 harassment, including instruction on recognizing behaviors that 140 lead to bullying and harassment and taking appropriate 141 preventive action based on those observations. 142 13.(
m) A procedure for regularly reporting to a victim’s 143 parents the actions taken to protect the victim. 144 14.(
n) A procedure for publicizing the policy, which must 145
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1514 32-01283-21 20211514__ Page 6 of 6 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. include its publication in the code of student conduct required 146 under s. 1006.07(2) and in all employee handbooks. 147 (b)1. The department shall fine a district school board if 148 the department finds that the district school board has failed 149 to enforce the school district’s zero-tolerance policy 150 prohibiting bullying and harassment of a student or employee of 151 a public K-12 educational institution overseen by the district 152 school board.
The department shall fine a district school board 153 $5,000 for a first offence, $10,000 for a second offence, and 154 $25,000 for a third or subsequent offense. 155 2. If the district school board’s failure was due to
an act 156 or omission by a teacher employed by the district school board, 157 then the district school board may require the teacher to pay 158 half of the fine to the district school board. 159 3. The district school board shall deny employment to or 160 terminate a school principal or teacher responsible for three 161 failures to enforce the district school board’s policy. 162 4. The department shall transfer any sums collected under 163 this paragraph to the Chief Financial Officer to be deposited in 164 the General Revenue Fund. 165