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There were close to 100
bills passed by the General
Assembly last spring that could
affect public schools and, as of
this writing, many of them are
still waiting for the governor to
sign them into law. A complete
list
in t
co
Sta
Alliance.
Here are seven bills that we
want to highlight heading into
the new school year:
Bullying Policy (HB 5707)
This bill became effective on June 26 and adds
criteria for a school’s bullying policy, including,
among other things:
School contact numbers and email addresses
and a procedure to allow for anonymous
reporting of bullying.
Procedures for promptly informing parents or
guardians of all students involved in an alleged
bullying incident and informing them about
services, interventions and restorative measures
that are available.
Procedures for prompt investigation of a bullying
incident, including “reasonable” efforts to
complete the investigation within 10 days;
Interventions that can be taken to address
bullying;
A statement prohibiting reprisal or retaliation
against those who reports acts of bullying;
Consequences and appropriate remedial actions
for persons falsely accusing another person of
bullying as means of retaliation or means of
bullying;
Including a wide range of stakeholders, including
students and parents or guardians, in the
development of the bullying policy;
Posting the policy on the school website and in
the student handbook and distributing the policy
annually to students, parents and guardians and
school personnel, including new employees
when hired;
A policy evaluation process to evaluate
outcomes and effectiveness of the policy that
includes, among other things, frequency of
victimization, identification of areas of school
where bullying occurs, and the types of bullying
that occur. Information collected as part of the
evaluation process must be included on the
school district website or disseminated to
stakeholders; and
A listing of the restorative measures used by the
school district.
Report on Student Discipline (SB 2793)
This bill was sent to the governor in late June
and, if signed, requires that beginning with the 2014-
15 school year ISBE will analyze data collected on
the issuance of out-of-school suspensions, expulsion
and removals to alternative settings in lieu of another
disciplinary action to determine districts in the top 20
percent of each metric.
Beginning with the 2017-18 school year, each of
the districts identified in the top 20 percent for the
previous three consecutive years must submit a
board-approved plan identifying the strategies the
district will implement to reduce the use of
exclusionary
discipline
practices,
racial
disproportionality or both.
CPR/AED Training Requirement (HB 3724)
This bill became effective on July 1 and requires
that beginning in the 2014-15 school year that
schools include in their high school health education
classes training on how to properly administer
(Continued on page 19)
New school year includes new laws
Diane Hendren
IASA Director of
Governmental
Relations
