2011 LEGISLATION INFORMATION
The Legislative Committee will be monitoring this legislative session and will keep you updated on important bills that effect schools and our children. Below you will find bills that we are currently tracking with a short summary. For full details on these bills and others please go to http://www.in.gov/legislative/index.htm. The INSSWA website, http://www.insswa.org also has legislative information.
Remember one voice can make a difference.
Senate Bills
SB4
Suicide prevention training for school personnel. Allows a governing body to adjourn its schools to allow teachers to participate in a basic or inservice course of education and training on suicide prevention and the recognition of signs that a student may be considering suicide. (The introduced version of this bill was prepared by the commission on mental health.)
SB143
Corporal punishment by parents. Specifies that a parent or guardian of a child has legal authority to: (1) apply reasonable force to a child; or (2) impose reasonable confinement on a child; if the parent or guardian believes that the reasonable force or confinement is necessary for the proper control, training, or education of the child. Provides that the following factors are relevant in determining whether force or confinement is reasonable: (1) The age of the child. (2) The sex of the child. (3) The physical and mental condition of the child. (4) The nature of the child's misbehavior and the child's motive for the misbehavior. (5) The influence that the child's example may have on other children of the same family or group. (6) Whether the force or confinement is reasonably necessary and appropriate to compel obedience to a proper command. (7) Whether the force or confinement is disproportionate to the misbehavior, unnecessarily degrading, or likely to cause serious or permanent harm.
SB176
Teacher training. Requires an applicant for an initial teaching license to be trained and certified in the use of an automated external defibrillator. Requires, after June 30, 2012, an applicant for the renewal of a teaching license to complete training and obtain certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, removing a foreign body causing an obstruction in an airway, the Heimlich maneuver, and the use of an automated external defibrillator.
SB408
Education concerning child abuse. Requires the department of education, in collaboration with organizations that have expertise in child sexual abuse, to identify or develop model child sexual abuse education materials, response policies, and reporting policies.
SB413
Office of the child advocate. Establishes: (1) the office of the child advocate; and (2) the duties of the child advocate, which include taking all possible action to ensure the legal, civil, and special rights of children. Requires the governor to appoint the child advocate. Requires the child advocate to submit an annual report.
SB465
Department of child services. Makes changes to the laws concerning: (1) criminal history background check requirements and fees concerning the department of child services; (2) guardianship of a minor; (3) regulation of child caring institutions, foster family homes, including therapeutic and special needs foster family homes, group homes, and child placing agencies; (4) adoption; (5) incentive payments to counties for enforcing and collecting child support; (6) juvenile court jurisdiction; (7) child abuse and neglect reporting and investigation; (8) disclosure of certain reports regarding the fatality or near fatality of a child; (9) local and statewide child fatality review teams; (10) the child protection index; (11) placement of a child in need of services; (12) notification requirements regarding proceedings on motions for child testimony by closed circuit television; and (13) placement of a child that is a delinquent child. Repeals a provision requiring the department of child services to collect and document information surrounding deaths of children reviewed by the statewide child fatality review committee
SB538
Bullying prevention. Requires the department of education to evaluate and make available to school corporations effective models of bullying prevention plans and to provide an appropriate incentive to school corporations with policies that encourage student participation in extracurricular activities designed to prevent bullying. Requires a school corporation to publish the number of bullying incidents that have occurred in the school corporation's annual performance report. Requires a school corporation's discipline and safety plan that is developed with parental assistance to address bullying prevention and response. Provides that the advisory board of the division of professional standards may adopt rules that set standards for teacher and administrator continuing education in the prevention of and response to bullying. Amends the definition of "bullying" to specify that the term includes verbal or written communications transmitted in any manner, including digitally or electronically. Requires school corporation discipline rules to include written reports of bullying incidents and responses to the incidents, and annual reports of the number of bullying incidents and responses to the department of education. Provides that the department of education may audit compliance with bullying prevention, intervention, and reporting requirements at any time.
House Bills
HB 1019
Training for child suicide prevention. Requires the division of mental health and addiction to consider evidence based programs and develop programs for teacher training on the prevention of child suicide and the recognition of signs that a student may be considering suicide. Allows a governing body to adjourn its schools to allow teachers to participate in a basic or inservice course of education and training on suicide prevention and the recognition of signs that a student may be considering suicide. Provides that after June 30, 2013, an individual may not receive an initial teaching license unless the individual has completed training on suicide prevention and the recognition of signs that a student may be considering suicide. (The introduced version of this bill was prepared by the commission on mental health.)
HB1189
Bullying prevention task force. Creates the school bullying prevention task force for students with disabilities to: (1) study the causes and effects of bullying in schools; (2) identify practices that reduce incidences of bullying; (3) highlight training and technical assistance opportunities for schools to effectively address bullying; and (4) evaluate the effectiveness of schools' current antibullying policies and other antibullying programs for students with disabilities. (The introduced version of this bill was produced by the Indiana Commission on Autism.)
HB 1195
Limitation on school starting date. Prohibits schools from beginning student instructional days for a school year before September 1, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
HB1331
School counselors. Establishes specific target counselor/student ratios to be used for the hiring of school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists. Requires the department of education, in cooperation with other appropriate associations, to develop a uniform job description for school counselors. Requires individuals seeking initial licensure for school counseling to provide evidence of performance in certain areas. Makes a technical correction.
HB1519
Compulsory school attendance. Requires a student to be at least 18 years of age in order to drop out of school. Repeals provisions permitting a student less than 18 years of age to drop out of school under certain circumstances. Makes conforming changes.
HB1566
School absenteeism and dropouts. Makes reduction of absenteeism in schools a policy priority for the department of education. Requires school corporations and schools to identify contributing factors to absenteeism and to develop chronic absence reduction plans. Directs the education roundtable to study and make recommendations concerning early childhood education. Requires the department of education to focus on implementing early childhood education programs that mirror proven early education programs. Requires school corporations to share data on high chronic absence schools with the department of education and family and social services to target allocation of resources and programs to improve student attendance. Allows school corporations to collaborate with public and private entities to provide professional development opportunities to help teachers and administrators understand the factors contributing to chronic absence and to address those factors. Allows school corporations to contract with nonprofit entities to provide health care services in school based clinics to students enrolled in schools within the school corporation.
HB 1567
Antibullying. Requires the department of education to develop guidelines to assist school corporations and safe school committees in establishing bullying prevention programs and investigation and reporting procedures. Requires each school corporation to include the number and nature of bullying incidents that occurred within the school corporation on the school corporation's annual performance report. Modifies the definition of bullying. Requires each school corporation to include detailed procedures for investigations and reporting of bullying behaviors in the school corporation's discipline rules. Sets out a bullying reporting requirement for each school corporation. Requires that if a board of trustees of a state educational institution elects to govern by regulation or another means, the conduct of students, faculty, employees, and others while upon the property owned, used, or occupied by the state educational institution, the regulation must include a policy prohibiting bullying.
Indiana Government- http://www.in.gov/legislative/
Who is your legislator- http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/
Remember......one voice can make a difference. Get involved.
