Alabama H.B. 216

Alabama H.B. 216

Student Harassment (Bullying) and Suicide Prevention

Effective October 1, 2009. Establishes the Student Harassment Prevention Act. Requires local boards to adopt policies by July 2010 to prevent student harassment and suicide. Includes written and electronic acts motivated by a student characteristic in the definition of harassing behavior. Limits harassment to behavior that takes place on school property or school buses, or at school-sponsored events. Provides no student should be subject to harassment or intimidation. Allows any student who is the object of harassment (or student's parent) to file a written complaint. Requires all schools to develop plans or programs, including peer mediation teams, to encourage students to report and address incidents of harassment, violence or threats of violence. Directs the department to develop a model policy prohibiting harassment, violence and threats of violence that contains specified components, including procedures to report acts of intimidation or harassment, suicide threats, violence and threats of violence.

Requires schools to:
--Implement proven practices to promote safe and harassment-free school environments
--Implement proven practices to prevent harassment, intimidation, violence and threats of violence, and to intervene when such incidents occur
--Incorporate awareness of harassment and intimidation prohibitions into character education curricula
--Report statistics on harassment, violence and threats of violence to the local board, which must provide statistics by school and for the district as a whole to the department of education for posting on the department Web site.

Provides that, to the extent that legislative or local funds are available, all school systems must implement 12 specified suicide prevention standards and policies, including educating students in recognizing signs of suicidal tendencies, informing students of available community suicide prevention services, and promoting cooperation between school staff and community suicide prevention program staff. Effective October 1, 2009.

Source:
www.lexis.com

Status: Signed into law Status Date: 05/20/2009

Alabama H.B. 216
Student Harassment (Bullying) and Suicide Prevention
Effective October 1, 2009. Establishes the Student Harassment Prevention Act. Requires local boards to adopt policies by July 2010 to prevent student harassment and suicide. Includes written and electronic acts motivated by a student characteristic in the definition of harassing behavior. Limits harassment to behavior that takes place on school property or school buses, or at school-sponsored events. Provides no student should be subject to harassment or intimidation. Allows any student who is the object of harassment (or student's parent) to file a written complaint. Requires all schools to develop plans or programs, including peer mediation teams, to encourage students to report and address incidents of harassment, violence or threats of violence. Directs the department to develop a model policy prohibiting harassment, violence and threats of violence that contains specified components, including procedures to report acts of intimidation or harassment, suicide threats, violence and threats of violence. Requires schools to: --Implement proven practices to promote safe and harassment-free school environments --Implement proven practices to prevent harassment, intimidation, violence and threats of violence, and to intervene when such incidents occur --Incorporate awareness of harassment and intimidation prohibitions into character education curricula --Report statistics on harassment, violence and threats of violence to the local board, which must provide statistics by school and for the district as a whole to the department of education for posting on the department Web site. Provides that, to the extent that legislative or local funds are available, all school systems must implement 12 specified suicide prevention standards and policies, including educating students in recognizing signs of suicidal tendencies, informing students of available community suicide prevention services, and promoting cooperation between school staff and community suicide prevention program staff. Effective October 1, 2009.
Source: www.lexis.com
Status: Signed into law	Status Date: 05/20/2009