BILL NUMBER: S9074

SPONSOR: TEDISCO
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
enacting "Jacobe's law"

 
PURPOSE:

To ensure a "reasonable and good faith effort" is made by school admin-
istrators to notify parents or guardians when there is a verified inci-
dent of harassment, bullying or discrimination in school.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill cites the act as Jacobe's Law.

Section 2 of the bill amends Education Law to require a school employee
to investigate and verify that a reported incident of harassment, bully-
ing or discrimination has occurred. Upon a verified incident of harass-
ment, bullying or discrimination, a licensed or certified school counse-
lor, social worker or psychologist must discuss with each student
              

involved in the incident whether they have any health, safety or privacy
concerns. Any discussions must be documented. If a student does not
express a health, safety or privacy concern, then the school employee
must make a reasonable and good faith effort to contact a student's
parent or person in parental relation by telephone, mail, email or other
means to discuss the incident and ways to effectively address the situ-
ation. If a student does express a health, safety or privacy concern,
then school counselor, social worker or psychologist shall determine,
using their professional judgment, if contacting a student's parent or
person in parental relation would be in the best interest of the
student.

Section 3 of the bill amends the immunity provisions provided by article
2 of Education Law.

Section 4 of the bill provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In April 2015, 13-year-old Jacobe Tares tragically took his own life
after having been subjected to bullying and harassing behavior.  Sadly,
this tragedy is not an isolated incident as bullying continues to nega-
tively impact hundreds of thousands of students on a daily basis in
schools across New York State and throughout our nation.

As noted on the American Society for the Positive Care of Children's
(SPCC) website, approximately 28 percent of students ages 12-18 reported
being bullied at school during the school year, according to the Indica-
tors of School Crime and Safety: 2013 report, by the Bureau of Justice
Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics Institute of
Education Sciences. The majority of bullying still takes place at school
and 1-in-3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school, according
to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Furthermore, as indicated On the American SPCC's website, it was
reported in the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 2013 report,
that, on average across 39 states surveyed, 7.2 percent of students
admitted to not going to school due to personal safety concerns. Many
dread the physical and verbal aggression of their peers and many more
attend school in a chronic state of, anxiety and depression. It was
further reported on the American SPCC website that 70.6 percent of young
people say they have seen bullying in their schools. In addition,
according to findings from the United States Department of Justice,
160,000 kids per day do not attend school for fear of being bullied.

Bullying can result in reluctance to go to school, while truancy, head-
aches and stomach pains, reduced appetite, shame, anxiety, irritability,
aggression and depression are also frequent effects, as stated on the
American SPCC website. Without question, there must be a continued,
coordinated, holistic emphasis on preventing, identifying and stopping
bullying behavior to prevent future tragedies. Comprehensive bullying
prevention will better protect children and ensure every student can
learn in an environment that is safe and secure from bullying and any
form of harassing or threatening behavior.

While the "Dignity for All Students Act" was signed into law in 2010 to
establish and streamline the protocol schools must follow when it comes
to bullying and harassment, parental notification provisions must be
strengthened. "Jacobe's Law" would require schools to make a reasonable
and good faith effort to notify a parent or guardian of a child who
reports to school officials that they fear they are a target of bullies
or situations where school officials suspect bullying is taking place,
and potentially avert future tragedies.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

06/19/17 S.1355B     PASSED SENATE
06/19/17 S.1355B     DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
06/19/17 S.1355B     REFERRED TO EDUCATION
01/03/18 S.1355B     DIED IN ASSEMBLY
01/03/18 S.1355B     RETURNED TO SENATE
01/03/18 S.1355B     REFERRED TO EDUCATION
02/28/18 S.1355B     COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES
02/28/18 S.1355B     ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.534
02/28/18 S.1355B    PASSED SENATE
02/28/18 S.1355B    DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.