H.F. 2361 Section 1. Section 256.9, Code 2018, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 60. Subject to an appropriation of funds by 3 the general assembly, ensure each school district has access to 4 adequate training on conducting investigations of complaints of 5 incidents of harassment or bullying pursuant to section 280.28 6 by offering such training on an annual basis to at least one 7 employee per district. 8 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 256.25 Bullying and violence 9 prevention student mentoring pilot program. 10 1. Subject to an appropriation of funds by the general 11 assembly, the department shall establish a student mentoring 12 pilot program to explore how student leadership can help 13 prevent bullying and violence in schools. The program shall 14 promote best practices for bullying and violence prevention for 15 middle and high school students. 16 2. The department shall establish the program in at least 17 two middle schools and two high schools in the state. The 18 selected schools shall include both urban and rural schools. 19 3. The department shall establish criteria for the 20 selection of participating schools and evaluation of the 21 program. 22 Sec. 3. Section 280.28, subsection 2, paragraphs a and c, 23 Code 2018, are amended to read as follows: 24 a. “Electronic” means any communication involving the 25 transmission of information by wire, radio, optical cable, 26 electromagnetic, or other similar means. “Electronic” includes 27 but is not limited to communication via electronic mail, 28 internet-based communications including social networking 29 sites , pager service, cell phones, and electronic text 30 messaging , or any other electronic communication site, device, 31 or means . 32 c. “Trait or characteristic of the student” includes but 33 is not limited to age, color, creed, national origin, race, 34 religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender 35 -1- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 1/ 7

H.F. 2361 identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or 1 disability, ancestry, political party preference, political 2 belief, socioeconomic status, or familial status , behavior, or 3 any other distinguishing characteristic. This paragraph shall 4 be construed broadly to achieve the purposes of this section . 5 Sec. 4. Section 280.28, subsection 3, Code 2018, is amended 6 by adding the following new paragraph: 7 NEW PARAGRAPH . h. A procedure for the notification as 8 soon as practicable of the parents or guardians of the alleged 9 targeted students and perpetrators in a reported incident 10 of harassment or bullying. The procedure shall include an 11 exception to the notification requirement if a school official 12 or a student whose parent or guardian would otherwise be 13 notified reasonably believes notification would subject the 14 student to rejection, abuse, or neglect. 15 Sec. 5. Section 280.28, Code 2018, is amended by adding the 16 following new subsections: 17 NEW SUBSECTION . 9. Authority off school grounds. 18 a. A school official may investigate and impose school 19 discipline in a founded case of harassment or bullying that 20 occurs outside of school, off of school property, or away from 21 a school function or school-sponsored activity if all of the 22 following apply: 23 (1) An incident of harassment or bullying is reported 24 pursuant to the school’s policy adopted under subsection 3, 25 paragraph “e” . 26 (2) The alleged incident of harassment or bullying has 27 an effect on a student on school grounds that creates an 28 objectively hostile school environment that meets one or more 29 of the conditions set out under subsection 2, paragraph “b” . 30 b. A school official’s investigation and response to an 31 alleged incident of bullying or harassment that occurs outside 32 of school, off of school property, or away from a school 33 function or school-sponsored activity may include referring 34 the matter to appropriate community-based agencies including 35 -2- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 2/ 7

H.F. 2361 but not limited to social services agencies, law enforcement 1 agencies, and nonprofit organizations. 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 10. Rule of construction. This section 3 shall not be construed to diminish a school administrator’s 4 discretion to impose discipline or take other action in the 5 case of an unfounded incident of harassment or bullying if a 6 student’s behavior otherwise constitutes student misconduct 7 based on other grounds. 8 Sec. 6. SCHOOL CLIMATE AND BULLYING PREVENTION WORK GROUP. 9 1. The department of education shall convene a 10 public-private work group of representatives of state and local 11 agencies, citizens, community groups, and organizations who 12 have experience and expertise in the areas of antibullying 13 education, research, and training. The work group, after 14 reviewing existing research, data, and strategies, shall 15 provide recommendations to the department regarding best 16 practices, training, resources, additional research needs, 17 data collection, changes to state law and administrative 18 rules, and any other matters to enhance statewide school 19 climate improvement and bullying prevention, awareness, and 20 intervention. 21 2. The membership of the work group shall include but not 22 be limited to the following, to be appointed by the director 23 of the department of education: 24 a. At least three Iowans who are experts in research-based 25 antibullying curricula or programs. 26 b. A public or nonpublic high school student. 27 c. A parent of a student enrolled in a public elementary or 28 secondary school on a full-time basis. 29 d. A parent of a student enrolled in a nonpublic elementary 30 or secondary school on a full-time basis. 31 e. A member from nominees submitted by the school 32 administrators of Iowa. 33 f. A member from nominees submitted by the Iowa association 34 of school boards. 35 -3- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 3/ 7

H.F. 2361 g. A member from nominees submitted by the Iowa state 1 education association. 2 h. Representatives from any organizations representing 3 other relevant public or nonpublic school professionals. 4 i. A representative from a statewide organization that 5 provides research-based training on bullying for school 6 professionals. 7 j. A representative from at least one statewide 8 organization with at least five years’ experience in advocating 9 on bullying prevention based on research-based best practices. 10 k. A representative for children placed in foster care. 11 l. A representative of school counselors. 12 m. A member from nominees submitted by the Iowa parent 13 teacher association. 14 3. When making appointments to the work group, the director 15 shall ensure that public, nonpublic, urban, and rural schools 16 are adequately represented by the membership of the work group. 17 4. The work group shall also include two ex officio members 18 of each house of the general assembly. One member each shall 19 be selected by the majority leader of the senate and by the 20 minority leader of the senate, and one member each shall be 21 selected by the speaker of the house of representatives and by 22 the minority leader of the house of representatives. Members 23 of the general assembly shall serve for terms as provided in 24 section 69.16B and shall be entitled to receive per diem and 25 necessary travel and actual expenses pursuant to section 2.10, 26 subsection 5, while carrying out their official duties as 27 members of the work group. 28 5. The department shall convene the work group by October 29 1, 2018. The work group shall submit its findings and 30 recommendations in a final report to the department and the 31 chairpersons and ranking members of the senate and house 32 committees on education by December 28, 2018. 33 EXPLANATION 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 35 -4- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 4/ 7

H.F. 2361 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 1 This bill requires the director of the department of 2 education, subject to an appropriation of funds by the general 3 assembly, to ensure that each school district has access to 4 adequate training on conducting investigations of complaints of 5 incidents of harassment or bullying pursuant to Code section 6 280.28, the state law relating to school antiharassment and 7 antibullying policies, by offering such training on an annual 8 basis to at least one employee per district. 9 The bill requires the department of education, subject to an 10 appropriation of funds by the general assembly, to establish 11 a student mentoring pilot program to explore how student 12 leadership can help prevent bullying and violence in schools. 13 The program shall promote best practices for bullying and 14 violence prevention for middle and high school students. The 15 department must establish the program in at least two middle 16 schools and two high schools, which shall include both urban 17 and rural schools. The department must establish criteria 18 for selection of participating schools and evaluation of the 19 program. 20 The bill modifies the definition of “electronic” under Code 21 section 280.28 by adding any other electronic communication 22 site, device, or means to the definition and by including 23 social networking sites as part of the term “internet-based 24 communications”. 25 Under Code section 280.28, subsection 2, “harassment” and 26 “bullying” shall be construed to mean any electronic, written, 27 verbal, or physical act or conduct toward a student which is 28 based on any actual or perceived trait or characteristic of 29 the student and which creates an objectively hostile school 30 environment that meets one or more of certain conditions. The 31 bill modifies the definition of “harassment” and “bullying” 32 under Code section 280.28 by adding behavior or any other 33 distinguishing characteristic to the definition. The bill 34 provides that the definition of “harassment” and “bullying” is 35 -5- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 5/ 7

H.F. 2361 to be construed broadly to achieve the purposes of the law. 1 The bill requires school antiharassment and antibullying 2 policies to include a procedure for the notification as soon as 3 practicable of the parents or guardians of the alleged targeted 4 students and perpetrators in a reported incident of harassment 5 or bullying. The procedure must include an exception to the 6 notification requirement if a school official or a student 7 whose parent or guardian would otherwise be notified reasonably 8 believes notification would subject the targeted student to 9 rejection, abuse, or neglect. 10 The bill grants school officials the authority to 11 investigate and impose school discipline or take other action 12 in cases of alleged incidents of harassment or bullying that 13 occur outside of school, off of school property, or away from 14 school functions or school-sponsored activities if certain 15 conditions are met. Those conditions are that an incident of 16 harassment or bullying is reported pursuant to the school’s 17 antiharassment and antibullying policy; and that the alleged 18 incident of harassment or bullying has an effect on school 19 grounds that creates an objectively hostile school environment 20 that places the student in reasonable fear of harm to the 21 student’s person or property; has a substantially detrimental 22 effect on the student’s physical or mental health; has the 23 effect of substantially interfering with a student’s academic 24 performance; or has the effect of substantially interfering 25 with the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from 26 the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school. 27 The bill provides that a school official’s investigation 28 and response to an alleged incident of bullying or harassment 29 that occurs outside of school, off of school property, or away 30 from a school function or school-sponsored activity may include 31 referring the matter to appropriate community-based agencies. 32 The bill provides that Code section 280.28 shall not be 33 construed to diminish a school administrator’s discretion 34 to impose discipline or take other action in the case of an 35 -6- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 6/ 7

H.F. 2361 unfounded incident of harassment or bullying if a student’s 1 behavior otherwise constitutes student misconduct based on 2 other grounds. 3 The bill requires the department of education to convene 4 a public-private work group of representatives of state and 5 local agencies, citizens, community groups, and organizations 6 who have experience and expertise in the areas of antibullying 7 education, research, and training. The work group, after 8 reviewing existing research, data, and strategies, shall 9 provide recommendations to the department regarding matters 10 to enhance statewide school climate improvement and bullying 11 prevention, awareness, and intervention. The bill provides for 12 membership of the work group to be appointed by the director of 13 the department. When making appointments to the work group, 14 the director must ensure that public, nonpublic, urban, and 15 rural schools are adequately represented by the membership 16 of the work group. The work group shall also include ex 17 officio legislative members. The department must convene the 18 work group by October 1, 2018. The work group must submit 19 its findings and recommendations in a final report to the 20 department and the chairpersons and ranking members of the 21 senate and house committees on education by December 28, 2018. 22 -7- LSB 6059YH (2) 87 je/rj 7/ 7