July 18, 2012, Introduced by Reps. Talabi, Bledsoe, Slavens, Darany, Tlaib, Stanley, Greimel, Cavanagh, Liss, Stapleton, Townsend, Rutledge, Stallworth, Howze, Womack, Santana and Oakes and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending sections 1310b and 1311 (MCL 380.1310b and 380.1311),
section 1310b as added by 2011 PA 241 and section 1311 as amended
by 2008 PA 1.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
1310b. (1) Subject to subsection (3), not later than 6
months
after the effective date of this section, June 6, 2012, the
board of a school district or intermediate school district or board
of directors of a public school academy shall adopt and implement a
policy prohibiting bullying at school, as defined in this section.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), before adopting the policy
required under subsection (1), the board or board of directors
shall hold at least 1 public hearing on the proposed policy. This
public hearing may be held as part of a regular board meeting.
Subject to subsection (3), not later than 30 days after adopting
the policy, the board or board of directors shall submit a copy of
its policy to the department.
(3)
If, as of the effective date of this section, December 6,
2011, a school district, intermediate school district, or public
school academy has already adopted and implemented an existing
policy prohibiting bullying at school and that policy is in
compliance with subsection (5), the board of the school district or
intermediate school district or board of directors of the public
school academy is not required to adopt and implement a new policy
under subsection (1). However, this subsection applies to a school
district, intermediate school district, or public school academy
described in this subsection only if the board or board of
directors submits a copy of its policy to the department not later
than
60 days after the effective date of this section.February 4,
2012.
(4) Not later than 1 year after the deadline under subsection
(2) for districts and public school academies to submit copies of
their policies to the department, the department shall submit a
report to the senate and house standing committees on education
summarizing the status of the implementation of policies under this
section.
(5) A policy adopted pursuant to subsection (1) shall include
at least all of the following:
(a) A statement prohibiting bullying of a pupil.
(b) A statement prohibiting retaliation or false accusation
against a target of bullying, a witness, or another person with
reliable information about an act of bullying.
(c) A provision indicating that all pupils are protected under
the policy and that bullying is equally prohibited without regard
to its subject matter or motivating animus.
(d) The identification by job title of school officials
responsible for ensuring that the policy is implemented.
(e) A statement describing how the policy is to be publicized.
(f) A procedure for providing notification to the parent or
legal guardian of a victim of bullying and the parent or legal
guardian of a perpetrator of the bullying.
(g) A procedure for reporting an act of bullying.
(h) A procedure for prompt investigation of a report of
violation of the policy or a related complaint, identifying either
the principal or the principal's designee as the person responsible
for the investigation.
(i) A procedure for each public school to document any
prohibited incident that is reported and a procedure to report all
verified incidents of bullying and the resulting consequences,
including discipline and referrals, to the board of the school
district or intermediate school district or board of directors of
the public school academy on an annual basis.
(6) The legislature encourages a board or board of directors
to include all of the following in the policy required under this
section:
(a) Provisions to form bullying prevention task forces,
programs, teen courts, and other initiatives involving school
staff, pupils, school clubs or other student groups,
administrators, volunteers, parents, law enforcement, community
members, and other stakeholders.
(b) A requirement for annual training for administrators,
school employees, and volunteers who have significant contact with
pupils on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting
incidents of bullying.
(c) A requirement for educational programs for pupils and
parents on preventing, identifying, responding to, and reporting
incidents of bullying and cyberbullying.
(7) A school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or parent or
guardian who promptly reports in good faith an act of bullying to
the appropriate school official designated in the school district's
or public school academy's policy and who makes this report in
compliance with the procedures set forth in the policy is immune
from a cause of action for damages arising out of the reporting
itself or any failure to remedy the reported incident. However,
this immunity does not apply to a school official who is designated
under subsection (5)(d), or who is responsible for remedying the
bullying, when acting in that capacity.
(8) If the board of a school district or intermediate school
district or board of directors of a public school academy, or its
designee under the policy, receives a report from a pupil or a
pupil's parent or guardian that the pupil is being bullied at
school by 1 or more other pupils, the board or board of directors,
or the designee, shall respond to the pupil and his or her parent
or guardian within 48 hours with a plan to address the activity in
the report. This plan shall include the specific intervention that
will be undertaken to address the activity in the report. This
intervention shall include, but is not limited to, all of the
following:
(a) Direct intervention in the form of a meeting to provide
conflict resolution between the pupil reporting the bullying and
the pupil or pupils being reported.
(b) Direct intervention with the families of the pupil
reporting the bullying and the pupil or pupils being reported to
provide recommendations of appropriate family intervention with the
pupils.
(c) If appropriate, referral to individual counseling for the
pupils or family counseling for the families, or both.
(9) If either the pupil reporting the bullying as described in
subsection (8) or the pupil or pupils being reported fail to
participate in the designated interventions under subsection (8),
the board of the school district or intermediate school district or
board of directors of the public school academy shall issue a
formal statement to the parties that the intervention was not
accepted and stating the actions considered necessary and
appropriate by the board or board of directors to protect the pupil
filing the report.
(10) (8)
As used in this section:
(a) "At school" means in a classroom, elsewhere on school
premises, on a school bus or other school-related vehicle, or at a
school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is held on
school premises. "At school" includes conduct using a
telecommunications access device or telecommunications service
provider that occurs off school premises if the telecommunications
access device or the telecommunications service provider is owned
by or under the control of the school district or public school
academy.
(b) "Bullying" means any written, verbal, or physical act, or
any electronic communication, that is intended or that a reasonable
person would know is likely to harm 1 or more pupils either
directly or indirectly by doing any of the following:
(i) Substantially interfering with educational opportunities,
benefits, or programs of 1 or more pupils.
(ii) Adversely affecting the ability of a pupil to participate
in or benefit from the school district's or public school's
educational programs or activities by placing the pupil in
reasonable fear of physical harm or by causing substantial
emotional distress.
(iii) Having an actual and substantial detrimental effect on a
pupil's physical or mental health.
(iv) Causing substantial disruption in, or substantial
interference with, the orderly operation of the school.
(c) "Telecommunications access device" and "telecommunications
service provider" mean those terms as defined in section 219a of
the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.219a.
(11) (9)
This section shall be known as
"Matt's Safe School
Law".
Sec. 1311. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the school board, or
the school district superintendent, a school building principal, or
another school district official if designated by the school board,
may authorize or order the suspension or expulsion from school of a
pupil guilty of gross misdemeanor or persistent disobedience if, in
the judgment of the school board or its designee, as applicable,
the interest of the school is served by the authorization or order.
If there is reasonable cause to believe that the pupil is a student
with a disability, and the school district has not evaluated the
pupil in accordance with rules of the superintendent of public
instruction to determine if the pupil is a student with a
disability, the pupil shall be evaluated immediately by the
intermediate school district of which the school district is
constituent in accordance with section 1711.
(2) If a pupil possesses in a weapon free school zone a weapon
that constitutes a dangerous weapon, commits arson in a school
building or on school grounds, or commits criminal sexual conduct
in a school building or on school grounds, the school board, or the
designee of the school board as described in subsection (1) on
behalf of the school board, shall expel the pupil from the school
district permanently, subject to possible reinstatement under
subsection (5). However, a school board is not required to expel a
pupil for possessing a weapon if the pupil establishes in a clear
and convincing manner at least 1 of the following:
(a) The object or instrument possessed by the pupil was not
possessed by the pupil for use as a weapon, or for direct or
indirect delivery to another person for use as a weapon.
(b) The weapon was not knowingly possessed by the pupil.
(c) The pupil did not know or have reason to know that the
object or instrument possessed by the pupil constituted a dangerous
weapon.
(d) The weapon was possessed by the pupil at the suggestion,
request, or direction of, or with the express permission of, school
or police authorities.
(3)
If Subject to subsection
(11), if an individual is
expelled pursuant to subsection (2), the expelling school district
shall enter on the individual's permanent record that he or she has
been expelled pursuant to subsection (2). Except if a school
district operates or participates cooperatively in an alternative
education program appropriate for individuals expelled pursuant to
subsection (2) and in its discretion admits the individual to that
program, and except for a strict discipline academy established
under sections 1311b to 1311l, an individual expelled pursuant to
subsection (2) is expelled from all public schools in this state
and the officials of a school district shall not allow the
individual to enroll in the school district unless the individual
has been reinstated under subsection (5). Except as otherwise
provided by law, a program operated for individuals expelled
pursuant to subsection (2) shall ensure that those individuals are
physically separated at all times during the school day from the
general pupil population. If an individual expelled from a school
district pursuant to subsection (2) is not placed in an alternative
education program or strict discipline academy, the school district
may provide, or may arrange for the intermediate school district to
provide, appropriate instructional services to the individual at
home. The type of services provided shall meet the requirements of
section 6(4)(u) of the state school aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1606,
and the services may be contracted for in the same manner as
services for homebound pupils under section 109 of the state school
aid act of 1979, MCL 388.1709. This subsection does not require a
school district to expend more money for providing services for a
pupil expelled pursuant to subsection (2) than the amount of the
foundation allowance the school district receives for the pupil as
calculated under section 20 of the state school aid act of 1979,
MCL 388.1620.
(4) If a school board expels an individual pursuant to
subsection (2), the school board shall ensure that, within 3 days
after the expulsion, an official of the school district refers the
individual to the appropriate county department of social services
or county community mental health agency and notifies the
individual's parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at
least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, notifies the individual of
the referral.
(5) The parent or legal guardian of an individual expelled
pursuant to subsection (2) or, if the individual is at least age 18
or is an emancipated minor, the individual may petition the
expelling school board for reinstatement of the individual to
public education in the school district. If the expelling school
board denies a petition for reinstatement, the parent or legal
guardian or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an
emancipated minor, the individual may petition another school board
for reinstatement of the individual in that other school district.
All of the following apply to reinstatement under this subsection:
(a) For an individual who was enrolled in grade 5 or below at
the time of the expulsion and who has been expelled for possessing
a firearm or threatening another person with a dangerous weapon,
the parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at least age
18 or is an emancipated minor, the individual may initiate a
petition for reinstatement at any time after the expiration of 60
school days after the date of expulsion. For an individual who was
enrolled in grade 5 or below at the time of the expulsion and who
has been expelled pursuant to subsection (2) for a reason other
than possessing a firearm or threatening another person with a
dangerous weapon, the parent or legal guardian or, if the
individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, the
individual may initiate a petition for reinstatement at any time.
For an individual who was in grade 6 or above at the time of
expulsion, the parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at
least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, the individual may
initiate a petition for reinstatement at any time after the
expiration of 150 school days after the date of expulsion.
(b) An individual who was in grade 5 or below at the time of
the expulsion and who has been expelled for possessing a firearm or
threatening another person with a dangerous weapon shall not be
reinstated before the expiration of 90 school days after the date
of expulsion. An individual who was in grade 5 or below at the time
of the expulsion and who has been expelled pursuant to subsection
(2) for a reason other than possessing a firearm or threatening
another person with a dangerous weapon shall not be reinstated
before the expiration of 10 school days after the date of the
expulsion. An individual who was in grade 6 or above at the time of
the expulsion shall not be reinstated before the expiration of 180
school days after the date of expulsion.
(c) It is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian
or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated
minor, of the individual to prepare and submit the petition. A
school board is not required to provide any assistance in preparing
the petition. Upon request by a parent or legal guardian or, if the
individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, by the
individual, a school board shall make available a form for a
petition.
(d) Not later than 10 school days after receiving a petition
for reinstatement under this subsection, a school board shall
appoint a committee to review the petition and any supporting
information submitted by the parent or legal guardian or, if the
individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, by the
individual. The committee shall consist of 2 school board members,
1 school administrator, 1 teacher, and 1 parent of a pupil in the
school district. During this time the superintendent of the school
district may prepare and submit for consideration by the committee
information concerning the circumstances of the expulsion and any
factors mitigating for or against reinstatement.
(e) Not later than 10 school days after all members are
appointed, the committee described in subdivision (d) shall review
the petition and any supporting information and information
provided by the school district and shall submit a recommendation
to the school board on the issue of reinstatement. The
recommendation shall be for unconditional reinstatement, for
conditional reinstatement, or against reinstatement, and shall be
accompanied by an explanation of the reasons for the recommendation
and of any recommended conditions for reinstatement. The
recommendation shall be based on consideration of all of the
following factors:
(i) The extent to which reinstatement of the individual would
create a risk of harm to pupils or school personnel.
(ii) The extent to which reinstatement of the individual would
create a risk of school district liability or individual liability
for the school board or school district personnel.
(iii) The age and maturity of the individual.
(iv) The individual's school record before the incident that
caused the expulsion.
(v) The individual's attitude concerning the incident that
caused the expulsion.
(vi) The individual's behavior since the expulsion and the
prospects for remediation of the individual.
(vii) If the petition was filed by a parent or legal guardian,
the degree of cooperation and support that has been provided by the
parent or legal guardian and that can be expected if the individual
is reinstated, including, but not limited to, receptiveness toward
possible conditions placed on the reinstatement.
(f) Not later than the next regularly scheduled board meeting
after receiving the recommendation of the committee under
subdivision (e), a school board shall make a decision to
unconditionally reinstate the individual, conditionally reinstate
the individual, or deny reinstatement of the individual. The
decision of the school board is final.
(g) A school board may require an individual and, if the
petition was filed by a parent or legal guardian, his or her parent
or legal guardian to agree in writing to specific conditions before
reinstating the individual in a conditional reinstatement. The
conditions may include, but are not limited to, agreement to a
behavior contract, which may involve the individual, parent or
legal guardian, and an outside agency; participation in or
completion of an anger management program or other appropriate
counseling; periodic progress reviews; and specified immediate
consequences for failure to abide by a condition. A parent or legal
guardian or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an
emancipated minor, the individual may include proposed conditions
in a petition for reinstatement submitted under this subsection.
(h) If the school board decides to deny reinstatement of the
individual, the reasons for denial shall be made in writing and
placed into the individual's permanent record. The school board
shall also notify the individual's parent or legal guardian of its
decision. The decision of the school board does not preclude the
parent or legal guardian from seeking legal action if the
individual's school or school district failed to remedy any and all
situations involving bullying.
(6) A school board or school administrator that complies with
subsection (2) is not liable for damages for expelling a pupil
pursuant to subsection (2), and the authorizing body of a public
school academy is not liable for damages for expulsion of a pupil
by the public school academy pursuant to subsection (2).
(7) The department shall develop and distribute to all school
districts a form for a petition for reinstatement to be used under
subsection (5).
(8) This section does not diminish any rights under federal
law of a pupil who has been determined to be eligible for special
education programs and services.
(9) If a pupil expelled from a public school district pursuant
to subsection (2) is enrolled by a public school district sponsored
alternative education program or a public school academy during the
period of expulsion, the public school academy or alternative
education program shall immediately become eligible for the
prorated share of either the public school academy or operating
school district's foundation allowance or the expelling school
district's foundation allowance, whichever is higher.
(10) If an individual is expelled pursuant to subsection (2),
it is the responsibility of that individual and of his or her
parent or legal guardian to locate a suitable alternative
educational program and to enroll the individual in such a program
during the expulsion. The office of safe schools in the department
shall compile information on and catalog existing alternative
education programs or schools and nonpublic schools that may be
open to enrollment of individuals expelled pursuant to subsection
(2) and pursuant to section 1311a, and shall periodically
distribute this information to school districts for distribution to
expelled individuals. A school board that establishes an
alternative education program or school described in this
subsection shall notify the office of safe schools about the
program or school and the types of pupils it serves. The office of
safe schools also shall work with and provide technical assistance
to school districts, authorizing bodies for public school
academies, and other interested parties in developing these types
of alternative education programs or schools in geographic areas
that are not being served.
(11) If a pupil is subject to expulsion under subsection (2)
but the events that are the basis for an expulsion were
precipitated by the pupil being bullied, then all of the following
apply:
(a) The pupil shall not be expelled from all public schools in
this state but instead shall be suspended for a period of not more
than 90 days. During the suspension, the pupil shall be enrolled in
an alternative education program appropriate for pupils in similar
situations.
(b) The school board shall investigate any and all allegations
of bullying of the pupil and, if there is evidence of bullying,
shall suspend or expel the perpetrator of the alleged bullying
after a formal hearing according to this act. A hearing concerning
the suspension or expulsion of the perpetrator of the alleged
bullying shall not coincide with any formal hearing concerning the
suspension of the alleged victim of the bullying.
(c) If the school board concludes the alleged perpetrator of
the bullying was the cause of the incident, then the alleged
perpetrator shall be expelled from the school for a period of not
more than 90 days and shall be enrolled in an alternative education
program that operates cooperatively with the school district from
which the alleged perpetrator was expelled.
(d) All proceedings shall be recorded in each affected pupil's
official school record maintained by the school district.
(e) The 2 individuals involved in the incident shall be
physically separated from each other for at least the remainder of
the school year.
(12) (11)
As used in this section:
(a) "Arson" means a felony violation of chapter X of the
Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.71 to 750.80.
(b) "Bullying" means that term as defined in section 1310b.
(c)
(b) "Criminal sexual conduct" means a
violation of section
520b, 520c, 520d, 520e, or 520g of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA
328, MCL 750.520b, 750.520c, 750.520d, 750.520e, and 750.520g.
(d) (c)
"Dangerous weapon" means
that term as defined in
section 1313.
(e) (d)
"Firearm" means that term
as defined in section 921 of
title 18 of the United States Code, 18 USC 921.
(f) (e)
"School board" means a
school board, intermediate
school board, or the board of directors of a public school academy.
(g) (f)
"School district" means a
school district, a local act
school district, an intermediate school district, or a public
school academy.
(h) (g)
"Weapon free school zone"
means that term as defined
in section 237a of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL
750.237a.