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Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S1414
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to harassment of students
Purpose
To direct the commissioner of education to establish a process for the reporting and resolution of incidents of discrimination and harassment of students to appropriate school officials.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends section 16 of the education law, as added by chapter 482 of the laws of 2010, to require that the commissioner of education (1) promulgate rules and regulation's providing for a process by which any employee, parent or student can report incidents of discrimination or harassment to appropriate school officials, and (2) provide guidelines for actions to be taken by school officials pursuant to such reports. Such reports shall be made available to the public upon request and are to be investigated immediately.
Section 2: Amends section 10 of the education law, as added by chapter 482 of the laws of 2010, by stating that public schools are responsible for fostering a learning environment free from discrimination and harassment, including bullying, taunting, and intimidation.
Section 3: Amends subdivision 7 of section 11 of the education law, as added by chapter 482 of the laws of 2010, expanding the definition of "harassment" to include the intentional creation of a hostile environment by means of electronic, written, or verbal communication or physical conduct.
Justification
This legislation will ensure that school-age children are provided a learning environment free of harassment, discrimination, intimidation, and bullying by directing the commissioner of education to create rules and regulations that provide a process for both reporting and corrective action of such incidents. Further, this bill places the burden of providing an environment free from bullying, taunting, and discrimination on the public schools, which are in the best position to prevent such negative behavior.
Additionally, this legislation expands the meaning of "harassment" to include not only verbal threats, but also electronic, written, or verbal communication or physical conduct. Such an expansion of the definition of harassment is vital in light of the current technology available to students. This will allow educational institutions, students, parents, and teachers to appropriately address all forms of bullying.
Legislative history
2011-2012: S.5916 - Died in Committee
Fiscal implications
Unknown.
Effective date
Immediately and the same date and in the same manner as chapter 102 of the laws of 2012 takes effect.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.