Bill > A5340

Introduced Session

This bill amends the definition of "harassment, intimidation, or bullying" in the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act to encompass acts of harassment, intimidation, or bullying against all students, not just students in protected classes. As currently defined, "harassment, intimidation, or bullying" is required to be reasonably perceived as being motivated by an actual or perceived characteristic. The definition sets forth examples of such characteristics - race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, mental, physical or sensory disability, or other distinguishing characteristic. This bill eliminates the requirement that the conduct is motivated by these actual or perceived characteristics from the definition. The bill requires the Commissioner of Education to update the model policy on harassment, intimidation, or bullying upon any revision of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act. The bill also provides that a school district's policy on prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying be amended upon any revision of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act. The bill removes the requirement that a school district ensure that its training on harassment, intimidation, or bullying include instruction on preventing bullying on the basis of protected categories since these categories are eliminated by the bill. Finally, the bill requires that as part of the information provided by the superintendent of schools twice a year to the board of education regarding acts of violence, vandalism, and bullying which occurred during the previous reporting period, the superintendent is to provide the board with information on the number of reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, disaggregated by race, gender, sexual orientation, eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch under the National School Lunch Program, special education designation, and English language learner designation. Similarly, the bill requires the information that is to be reported to the Department of Education include this disaggregated data.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)*,  Britnee Timberlake (D)*,  Benjie Wimberly (D)*,  Angela Mcknight (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 03/23/2023)

Official Document