Public Act 096-0952
 		





SB3266 Enrolled
LRB096 20034 NHT 35537 b





  
    AN ACT concerning education.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  

  
 
    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:
 
    (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 
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 
weapons, the level of criminal activity by gang members has 
taken on new importance for law enforcement agencies, schools, 
the community, and prevention efforts.

    (b)  In this Section:

    "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 
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.

    (c)  (Blank). Each school district may make suitable 
provisions for instruction in bullying prevention and gang 
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.


    (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 
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.)
 
    (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 
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. 
 
    (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.
    (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.
 
    Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding 
Section 8.34 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 805/8.34 new)
    Sec. 8.34. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the 
implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of 
the 96th General Assembly.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.