I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3911 

To amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to include 

bullying and harassment prevention programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities 

Act to include bullying and harassment prevention programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. BULLYING AND HARASSMENT PREVENTION 

4 POLICIES, PROGRAMS, AND STATISTICS. 

5 (a) STATE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

6 4112(c)(3)(B)(iv) of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and 

7 Communities Act (20 U.S.C. 7112(c)(3)(B)(iv)) is amend8 ed by inserting ‘‘, including bullying and harassment,’’ 

9 after ‘‘violence’’. 


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1 (b) STATE APPLICATION.—Section 4113(a) of such 

2 Act (20 U.S.C. 7113(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (9)— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(E) the incidence and prevalence of re8 ported incidents of bullying and harassment; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(F) the perception of students regarding 

11 their school environment, including with respect 

12 to the prevalence and seriousness of incidents of 

13 bullying and harassment and the responsiveness 

14 of the school to those incidents;’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

16 end; 

17 (3) in paragraph (19), by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(20) provides an assurance that the State edu21 cational agency will provide assistance to districts 

22 and schools in their efforts to prevent and appro23 priately respond to incidents of bullying and harass24 ment and describes how the agency will meet this re25 quirement.’’. 


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1 (c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PROGRAM APPLI2 CATION.—Section 4114(d) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

3 7114(d)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (2)(B)(i)— 

5 (A) in the matter preceding subclause (I), 

6 by striking the semicolon and inserting a 

7 comma; 

8 (B) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

9 the end; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(III) performance indicators for 

12 bullying and harassment prevention 

13 programs and activities; and’’; and 

14 (2) in paragraph (7)— 

15 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 

16 including bullying and harassment’’ after ‘‘dis17 orderly conduct’’; 

18 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(F) annual notice to parents and students 

22 describing the full range of prohibited conduct 

23 contained in the discipline policies described in 

24 subparagraph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(G) complaint procedures for students or 

2 parents that seek to register complaints regard3 ing the prohibited conduct contained in the dis4 cipline policies described in subparagraph (A), 

5 including— 

6 ‘‘(i) the name of the school or district 

7 officials who are designated as responsible 

8 for receiving such complaints; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) timelines that the school or dis10 trict will follow in the resolution of such 

11 complaints;’’. 

12 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Section 4115(b)(2) 

13 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7115(b)(2)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

15 (A) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

16 end; 

17 (B) in clause (vii), by striking the period 

18 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(viii) teach students about the con21 sequences of bullying and harassment.’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) in subparagraph (E), by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(xxiii) Programs that address the 

2 causes of bullying and harassment and 

3 that train teachers, administrators, and 

4 counselors regarding strategies to prevent 

5 bullying and harassment and to effectively 

6 intervene when such incidents occur.’’. 

7 (e) REPORTING.—Section 4116(a)(2)(B) of such Act 

8 (20 U.S.C. 7116(a)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, in9 cluding bullying and harassment,’’ after ‘‘drug use and vi10 olence’’. 

11 (f) IMPACT EVALUATION.—Section 4122 of such Act 

12 (20 U.S.C. 7132) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘and school 

14 violence’’ and inserting ‘‘school violence, including 

15 bullying and harassment,’’; and 

16 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by in17 serting ‘‘, including bullying and harassment,’’ after 

18 ‘‘drug use and violence’’. 

19 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

20 (1) DRUG AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION.—Para21 graph (3)(B) of section 4151 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 7151) is amended by inserting ‘‘, bullying, and other 

23 harassment’’ after ‘‘sexual harassment and abuse’’. 

24 (2) PROTECTIVE FACTOR, BUFFER, OR

25 ASSET.—Paragraph (6) of such section is amended 


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1 by inserting ‘‘, including bullying and harassment’’ 

2 after ‘‘violent behavior’’. 

3 (3) RISK FACTOR.—Paragraph (7) of such sec4 tion is amended by inserting ‘‘, including bullying 

5 and harassment’’ after ‘‘violent behavior’’. 

6 (4) BULLYING, HARASSMENT, AND VIO7 LENCE.—Such section is further amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(12) BULLYING.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘bullying’ 

11 means aggressive behavior that is intended to 

12 cause distress or harm, involves an imbalance of 

13 power or strength between the aggressor and 

14 the victim and that favors the aggressor, and 

15 typically occurs repeatedly over time. Bullying 

16 may take many forms, including physical, 

17 verbal, relational, and cyber. Bullying can be 

18 conduct or behavior or that is based on, but not 

19 limited to, a student’s actual or perceived iden20 tity with regard to race, color, national origin, 

21 sex, gender identity, disability, sexual orienta22 tion, religion, or other distinguishing character23 istics that may be defined by a State or local 

24 educational agency that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is directed at one or more stu2 dents; 

3 ‘‘(ii) substantially interferes with edu4 cational opportunities or programs of such 

5 students; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) adversely affects the ability of a 

7 student to participate in or benefit from 

8 the school’s educational programs or activi9 ties by placing a student in reasonable fear 

10 of physical or mental harm. 

11 ‘‘(B) ASSOCIATION.—Such term includes 

12 conduct described in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of 

13 subparagraph (A) that is based on— 

14 ‘‘(i) a student’s association with an15 other individual; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) a characteristic of the other indi17 vidual that is referred to in subparagraph 

18 (A). 

19 ‘‘(C) CYBERBULLYING.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Such term in21 cludes conduct described in subparagraph 

22 (A) that is undertaken, in whole or in part, 

23 through use of technology or electronic 

24 communications (including electronic mail, 

25 Internet communications, instant mesVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:51 Jan 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3911.IH H3911

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1 sages, or facsimile communications) to 

2 transmit images, text, sounds, or other 

3 data. 

4 ‘‘(ii) SEXTING.—Such term includes 

5 transmitting a nude picture by a means 

6 described in clause (i) if such transmission 

7 constitutes conduct described in subpara8 graph (A). 

9 ‘‘(iii) FALSE IDENTITY.—Such term 

10 includes knowingly impersonating another 

11 person as the author of posted content or 

12 messages on the Internet in order to trick, 

13 tease, harass, or spread rumors about the 

14 other person. 

15 ‘‘(13) HARASSMENT.—The term ‘harassment’ 

16 means conduct, including conduct that is based on 

17 a student’s actual or perceived identity with regard 

18 to race, color, national origin, gender identity, dis19 ability, sexual orientation, religion, or any other dis20 tinguishing characteristics that may be defined by a 

21 State or local educational agency, that— 

22 ‘‘(A) is directed at one or more students; 

23 ‘‘(B) substantially interferes with edu24 cational opportunities or educational programs 

25 of such students; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) adversely affects the ability of a stu2 dent to participate in or benefit from the 

3 school’s educational programs or activities be4 cause the conduct as reasonably perceived by 

5 the student is so severe, persistent, or perva6 sive. 

7 ‘‘(14) VIOLENCE.—The term ‘violence’ includes 

8 bullying and harassment.’’. 

9 (h) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.— 

10 (1) AMENDMENT.—The Safe and Drug-Free 

11 Schools and Communities Act (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 

12 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 4156. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

14 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION

15 LAWS.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to alter 

16 legal standards regarding, or limit rights available to vic17 tims of, bullying or harassment under other Federal or 

18 State laws, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

19 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 

20 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 

21 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), 

22 or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

23 12101 et seq.). 

24 ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth25 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 


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1 regarding, or affect the rights available to individuals 

2 under, other Federal laws that establish protections for 

3 freedom of speech and expression.’’. 

4 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con5 tents of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

6 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by 

7 adding after the item relating to section 4155 the 

8 following: 

‘‘Sec. 4156. Effect on other laws.’’. 

Æ 


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