Florida Senate - 2011                (Corrected Copy)    SB 1582
       
       
       
       By Senator Sobel
       
       
       
       
       31-01237B-11                                          20111582__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to bullying or harassment; amending s.
    3         1006.147, F.S.; requiring the Department of Education
    4         to create a stand-alone model policy designed to
    5         protect students from bullying and harassment;
    6         providing criteria; requiring that each public K-12
    7         educational institution designate a school employee as
    8         counselor for any student suffering from bullying or
    9         harassment; requiring the Department of Education to
   10         approve and produce training materials; requiring the
   11         department to provide the materials at no cost to
   12         public K-12 educational institutions; providing an
   13         effective date.
   14  
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Present subsections (8), (9), and (10) of
   18  section 1006.147, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as
   19  subsections (11), (12), and (13), respectively, and new
   20  subsections (8), (9), and (10) are added to that section, to
   21  read:
   22         1006.147 Bullying and harassment prohibited.—
   23         (8) The department shall create a stand-alone model policy
   24  designed to protect students from bullying or harassment. The
   25  model policy shall include:
   26         (a) A curriculum for pre-K through 12;
   27         (b) Instruction on awareness for parents and all school
   28  staff;
   29         (c) Investigation and resolution by the school
   30  administration or their designee of bullying or harassment that
   31  occurs off school grounds using nonschool technology, but has
   32  such negative impact on the school environment as to create a
   33  safety risk between students in conflict;
   34         (d) The prominent display of posters at schools and
   35  advertisements on school and district websites of the importance
   36  of Internet safety and how to report bullying and harassment;
   37  and
   38         (e) A procedure for immediate notification to parents of
   39  the consequences of bullying and harassment and the availability
   40  of counseling resources.
   41         (9) Each public K-12 educational institution shall
   42  designate a school employee to serve as a counselor for any
   43  student suffering from bullying or harassment.
   44         (10) The department shall approve and produce materials
   45  that are used to train designated school employees as counselors
   46  for students suffering from bullying or harassment. The
   47  department shall provide the materials to each public K-12
   48  educational institution at no cost.
   49         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.