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Public Act 096-0952
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| SB3266 Enrolled |
LRB096 20034 NHT 35537 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
27-23.7 and by adding Sections 27-23.9 and 27-23.10 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/27-23.7) |
Sec. 27-23.7. Bullying prevention education; gang |
resistance education and training. |
(a) The General Assembly finds that a safe and civil school |
environment is necessary for students to learn and achieve and |
that bullying causes physical, psychological, and emotional |
harm to students and interferes with students' ability to learn |
and participate in school activities. The General Assembly |
further finds that bullying has a negative effect on the social |
environment of schools, creates a climate of fear among |
students, inhibits their ability to learn, and leads to other |
antisocial behavior. Bullying behavior has been linked to other |
forms of antisocial behavior, such as vandalism, shoplifting, |
skipping and dropping out of school, fighting, using drugs and |
alcohol, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. Because of the |
negative outcomes associated with bullying in schools, the |
General Assembly finds that school districts and non-public, |
non-sectarian elementary and secondary schools should educate |
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students, parents, and school district or non-public, |
non-sectarian elementary or secondary school personnel about |
what behaviors constitute prohibited bullying. |
Bullying on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, |
religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, |
physical or mental disability, military status, sexual |
orientation, gender-related identity or expression, |
unfavorable discharge from military service, association with |
a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual |
or perceived characteristics, or any other distinguishing |
characteristic is prohibited in all school districts and |
non-public, non-sectarian elementary and secondary schools.
No |
student shall be subjected to bullying: |
(1) during any school-sponsored education program or |
activity; |
(2) while in school, on school property, on school |
buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus |
stops waiting for the school bus, or at school-sponsored or |
school-sanctioned events or activities; or |
(3) through the transmission of information from a |
school computer, a school computer network, or other |
similar electronic school equipment. |
The General Assembly further finds that the instance of |
youth delinquent gangs continues to rise on a statewide basis. |
Given the higher rates of criminal offending among gang |
members, as well as the availability of increasingly lethal |
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weapons, the level of criminal activity by gang members has |
taken on new importance for law enforcement agencies, schools, |
the community, and prevention efforts.
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(b) In this Section:
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"Bullying" means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal |
act or conduct, including communications made in writing or |
electronically, directed toward a student or students that has |
or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or |
more of the following: |
(1) placing the student or students in reasonable fear |
of harm to the student's or students' person or property; |
(2) causing a substantially detrimental effect on the |
student's or students' physical or mental health; |
(3) substantially interfering with the student's or |
students' academic performance; or |
(4) substantially interfering with the student's or |
students' ability to participate in or benefit from the |
services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. |
Bullying, as defined in this subsection (b), may take |
various forms, including without limitation one or more of the |
following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, |
physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft, |
public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation |
for asserting or alleging an act of bullying. This list is |
meant to be illustrative and non-exhaustive. |
"School personnel" means persons employed by, on contract |
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with, or who volunteer in a school district or non-public, |
non-sectarian elementary or secondary school, including |
without limitation school and school district administrators, |
teachers, school guidance counselors, school social workers, |
school counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, |
cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, school resource |
officers, and security guards. |
"Bullying prevention" means and includes instruction in |
all of the following: |
(1) Intimidation. |
(2) Student victimization. |
(3) Sexual harassment. |
(4) Sexual violence. |
(5) Strategies for student-centered problem solving |
regarding bullying. |
"Gang resistance education and training" means and |
includes instruction in, without limitation, each of the |
following subject matters when accompanied by a stated |
objective of reducing gang activity and educating children in |
grades K through 12 about the consequences of gang involvement: |
(1) Conflict resolution. |
(2) Cultural sensitivity. |
(3) Personal goal setting. |
(4) Resisting peer pressure.
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(c) (Blank). Each school district may make suitable |
provisions for instruction in bullying prevention and gang |
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resistance education and training in all grades and include |
such instruction in the courses of study regularly taught |
therein. A school board may collaborate with a community-based |
agency providing specialized curricula in bullying prevention |
whose ultimate outcome is to prevent sexual violence. For the |
purposes of gang resistance education and training, a school |
board must collaborate with State and local law enforcement |
agencies. The State Board of Education may assist in the |
development of instructional materials and teacher training in |
relation to bullying prevention and gang resistance education |
and training.
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(d) Each Beginning 180 days after August 23, 2007 (the |
effective date of Public Act 95-349), each school district and |
non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school shall |
create and maintain a policy on bullying, which policy must be |
filed with the State Board of Education. Each school district |
and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school |
must communicate its policy on bullying to its students and |
their parent or guardian on an annual basis. The policy must be |
updated every 2 years and filed with the State Board of |
Education after being updated. The State Board of Education |
shall monitor the implementation of policies created under this |
subsection (d). |
(e) This Section shall not be interpreted to prevent a |
victim from seeking redress under any other available civil or |
criminal law.
Nothing in this Section is intended to infringe |
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upon any right to exercise free expression or the free exercise |
of religion or religiously based views protected under the |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution or under |
Section 3 or 4 of Article 1 of the Illinois Constitution. |
(Source: P.A. 94-937, eff. 6-26-06; 95-198, eff. 1-1-08; |
95-349, eff. 8-23-07; 95-876, eff. 8-21-08.)
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(105 ILCS 5/27-23.9 new) |
(Section scheduled to be repealed on March 2, 2011) |
Sec. 27-23.9. School Bullying Prevention Task Force. |
(a) In this Section, "Task Force" means the School Bullying |
Prevention Task Force. |
(b) The Task Force is created and charged with exploring |
the causes and consequences of bullying in schools in this |
State, identifying promising practices that reduce incidences |
of bullying, highlighting training and technical assistance |
opportunities for schools to effectively address bullying, |
evaluating the effectiveness of schools' current anti-bullying |
policies and other bullying prevention programs, and other |
related issues. |
(c) Within 60 days after the effective date of this |
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the State |
Superintendent of Education shall appoint 15 members to the |
Task Force. The membership of the Task Force shall include |
representatives of State agencies whose work includes bullying |
prevention or intervention; statewide organizations that focus |
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on violence or bullying prevention or intervention; teachers |
and management personnel from at least 3 school districts; |
academics who conduct research on bullying, its consequences to |
students in grades K through 12, or effective strategies for |
preventing or addressing bullying; a current high school or |
college student who has experienced bullying; and others at the |
State Superintendent's discretion. Members of the Task Force |
shall serve without compensation. |
(d) The State Board of Education shall provide technical |
assistance for the work of the Task Force. |
(e) No later than March 1, 2011, the Task Force shall |
submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly on any |
recommendations for preventing and addressing bullying in |
schools in this State and a proposed timeline for meeting the |
Task Force's charges identified in this Section. |
(f) This Section is repealed on March 2, 2011.
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(105 ILCS 5/27-23.10 new) |
Sec. 27-23.10. Gang resistance education and training. |
(a) The General Assembly finds that the instance of youth |
delinquent gangs continues to rise on a statewide basis. Given |
the higher rates of criminal offending among gang members, as |
well as the availability of increasingly lethal weapons, the |
level of criminal activity by gang members has taken on new |
importance for law enforcement agencies, schools, the |
community, and prevention efforts. |
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(b) As used in this Section: |
"Gang resistance education and training" means and |
includes instruction in, without limitation, each of the |
following subject matters when accompanied by a stated |
objective of reducing gang activity and educating children in |
grades K through 12 about the consequences of gang involvement: |
(1) conflict resolution; |
(2) cultural sensitivity; |
(3) personal goal setting; and |
(4) resisting peer pressure. |
(c) Each school district and non-public, non-sectarian |
elementary or secondary school in this State may make suitable |
provisions for instruction in gang resistance education and |
training in all grades and include that instruction in the |
courses of study regularly taught in those grades. For the |
purposes of gang resistance education and training, a school |
board or the governing body of a non-public, non-sectarian |
elementary or secondary school must collaborate with State and |
local law enforcement agencies. The State Board of Education |
may assist in the development of instructional materials and |
teacher training in relation to gang resistance education and |
training.
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Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding |
Section 8.34 as follows:
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