2011 Connecticut Code
Title 10 Education and Culture
Chapter 170 Boards of Education
Sec. 10-222d. Policy on bullying behavior.

      Sec. 10-222d. Policy on bullying behavior. Each local and regional board of education shall develop and implement a policy to address the existence of bullying in its schools. Such policy shall: (1) Enable students to anonymously report acts of bullying to teachers and school administrators and require students to be notified annually of the process by which they may make such reports, (2) enable the parents or guardians of students to file written reports of suspected bullying, (3) require teachers and other school staff who witness acts of bullying or receive student reports of bullying to notify school administrators in writing, (4) require school administrators to investigate any written reports made under this section and to review any anonymous reports, except that no disciplinary action shall be taken solely on the basis of an anonymous report, (5) include a prevention and intervention strategy, as defined by section 10-222g, for school staff to deal with bullying, (6) provide for the inclusion of language in student codes of conduct concerning bullying, (7) require each school to notify the parents or guardians of students who commit any verified acts of bullying and the parents or guardians of students against whom such acts were directed, and invite them to attend at least one meeting, (8) require each school to maintain a list of the number of verified acts of bullying in such school and make such list available for public inspection, and, within available appropriations, report such number to the Department of Education, annually and in such manner as prescribed by the Commissioner of Education, (9) direct the development of case-by-case interventions for addressing repeated incidents of bullying against a single individual or recurrently perpetrated bullying incidents by the same individual that may include both counseling and discipline, and (10) identify the appropriate school personnel, which may include, but shall not be limited to, pupil services personnel, responsible for taking a bullying report and investigating the complaint. The notification required pursuant to subdivision (7) of this section shall include a description of the response of school staff to such acts and any consequences that may result from the commission of further acts of bullying. For purposes of this section, "bullying" means any overt acts by a student or a group of students directed against another student with the intent to ridicule, harass, humiliate or intimidate the other student while on school grounds, at a school-sponsored activity or on a school bus, which acts are committed more than once against any student during the school year. Such policies may include provisions addressing bullying outside of the school setting if it has a direct and negative impact on a student's academic performance or safety in school. Not later than February 1, 2009, each local and regional board of education shall submit the policy developed pursuant to this section to the Department of Education. Not later than July 1, 2009, each local or regional board of education shall ensure that the policy is included in the school district's publication of the rules, procedures and standards of conduct for schools and in all student handbooks.

      (P.A. 02-119, S. 1; P.A. 06-115, S. 1; P.A. 08-160, S. 4.)

      History: P.A. 02-119 effective July 1, 2002; P.A. 06-115 added annual notification requirement in Subdiv. (1), added Subdiv. (9) re interventions, redefined "bullying" to include harassment and behavior on a school bus and added language re policies to address bullying outside of the school setting, effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 08-160 added language re implementation of policy, deleted provision re use on and after February 1, 2003, amended Subdiv. (3) to require notification be in writing, amended Subdiv. (4) to add exception re anonymous report, amended Subdiv. (5) to add language re prevention, amended Subdiv. (7) to add language re notification by each school and invitation to attend at least one meeting, amended Subdiv. (8) to add language re report to Department of Education, added Subdiv. (10) re identification of appropriate personnel, redefined "bullying" to provide that acts may be committed against any student more than once and added language re submission of policy to Department of Education and publication of policy by school district, effective July 1, 2008 (Revisor's note: In codifying section 4 of public act 08-160, a reference to "this act" was deemed by the Revisors to be a reference to section 5 of that act and therefore cited as "section 10-222g").