I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4776

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

bullying and harassment prevention programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 7, 2004

Mr. SHIMKUS (for himself and Mr. 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.—The term ‘bullying’ means 

10 conduct, including conduct that is based on a stu11 dent’s actual or perceived identity with regard to 

12 race, color, national origin, gender, disability, sexual 

13 orientation, religion, or any other distinguishing 

14 characteristics that may be defined by a State or 

15 local educational agency, that—

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

17 ‘‘(B) substantially interferes with edu18 cational opportunities or educational programs 

19 of such students; and 

20 ‘‘(C) adversely affects the ability of a stu21 dent to participate in or benefit from the 

22 school’s educational programs or activities by 

23 placing a student in reasonable fear of physical 

24 harm. 
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1 ‘‘(13) HARASSMENT.—The term ‘harassment’ 

2 means conduct, including conduct that is based on 

3 a student’s actual or perceived identity with regard 

4 to race, color, national origin, gender, disability, sex5 ual orientation, religion, or any other distinguishing 

6 characteristics that may be defined by a State or 

7 local educational agency, that—

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

9 ‘‘(B) substantially interferes with edu10 cational opportunities or educational programs 

11 of such students; and 

12 ‘‘(C) adversely affects the ability of a stu13 dent to participate in or benefit from the 

14 school’s educational programs or activities be15 cause the conduct as reasonably perceived by 

16 the student is so severe, pervasive, and objec17 tively offensive. 

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

19 bullying and harassment.’’. 

20 (h) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—

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

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

23 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 4156. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

2 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL AND STATE NONDISCRIMINATION

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

4 legal standards regarding, or limit rights available to vic5 tims of, bullying or harassment under other Federal or 

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

7 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 

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

9 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), 

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

11 12101 et seq.). 

12 ‘‘(b) FREE SPEECH AND EXPRESSION LAWS.—Noth13 ing in this part shall be construed to alter legal standards 

14 regarding, or affect the rights available to individuals 

15 under, other Federal laws that establish protections for 

16 freedom of speech and expression.’’. 

17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con18 tents of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

20 adding after the item relating to section 4155 the 

21 following:

‘‘Sec. 4156. Effect on other laws.’’.

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