BILL NUMBER: AB 1993	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fox

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2014

   An act to add Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 48960) to
Chapter 6 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
relating to pupils.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1993, as introduced, Fox. Pupils: bullying: counseling
services.
   Existing law, the Safe Place to Learn Act, requires the State
Department of Education to assess whether local educational agencies
have adopted a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment,
intimidation, and bullying based on specified characteristics.
Existing law also authorizes a school to suspend or recommend for
expulsion a pupil who has engaged in an act of bullying.
   This bill, the Nigel Hardy Act, would require a school to offer
counseling services to every pupil who attends the school who has
been the victim of an act of bullying or who has been found to have
engaged in an act of bullying, as provided. The bill would also
require a school district to provide training on the topic of
bullying to every teacher employed by the school district and would
require every teacher employed by the school district on or after
July 1, 2015, to complete the training. By imposing additional
requirements on schools and school districts, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This measure shall be known and may be cited as the
Nigel Hardy Act.
  SEC. 2.  Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 48960) is added to
Chapter 6 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
to read:

      Article 3.5.  Bullying


   48960.  For purposes of this article, "bullying" has the same
meaning as set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (r) of Section
48900.
   48961.  A school shall offer counseling services to every pupil
who attends the school who, on or after January 1, 2015, has been the
victim of an act of bullying or who, on or after January 1, 2015,
has been found to have engaged in an act of bullying.
   48962.  A school district shall provide training on the topic of
bullying to every teacher employed by the school district. Every
teacher employed by a school district on or after July 1, 2015, shall
be required to complete the training.
  SEC. 3.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.