June 25, 2009, Introduced by Senators SCOTT, CLARK-COLEMAN, CLARKE, BRATER, JACOBS, PRUSI, WHITMER, SWITALSKI and CHERRY and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1315.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1315. (1) Not later than July 1, 2009, the department
shall do both of the following:
(a) Develop a model dating violence policy to assist school
districts and public school academies in developing policies under
subsection (2) for dating violence reporting and response.
(b) Develop or adopt a model curriculum for grades 7 to 12 for
dating violence education to assist school districts and public
school academies in providing the dating violence education
required under subsection (2). The department shall incorporate
this model curriculum into the recommended model core academic
curriculum content standards under section 1278 and may incorporate
it into the Michigan model for comprehensive school health
education.
(2) Not later than December 1, 2009, the board of a school
district or board of directors of a public school academy that
operates any of grades 7 to 12 shall do all of the following:
(a) Adopt and implement a specific policy to address incidents
of dating violence involving pupils at school. Each school district
or public school academy shall verify compliance with this
requirement by submitting a copy of the policy to the department on
an annual basis in the form and manner prescribed by the
department. The policy shall include, but not be limited to, a
statement that dating violence will not be tolerated, dating
violence reporting procedures, guidelines to responding to
incidents of dating violence at school, and discipline procedures
specific to those incidents. To ensure notice of the dating
violence policy, the board or board of directors shall publish the
policy in the code of student conduct required under section 1312
and include it in the school district's or public school academy's
student handbook.
(b) Incorporate dating violence education that is age-
appropriate into the health curriculum for pupils in grades 7 to
12. Dating violence education shall include, but not be limited to,
defining dating violence, recognizing dating violence warning
signs, and characteristics of healthy relationships. Additionally,
pupils shall be provided with the school district's or public
school academy's dating violence policy as provided in subdivision
(a).
(c) Provide dating violence training to all administrators,
teachers, school counselors, school nurses, and mental health staff
at the middle and high school levels. Upon the recommendation of an
administrator, other staff members may be included or may attend
the training on a volunteer basis. The dating violence training
shall include, but not be limited to, basic principles of dating
violence, warning signs of dating violence, and the school
district's dating violence policy, to ensure that school staff
members are able to appropriately respond to incidents of dating
violence at school. After the initial training, this training shall
be provided yearly to all newly hired staff members considered
appropriate to receive the training by a school's administration.
(3) Each school district or public school academy that
operates any of grades 7 to 12 shall inform its pupils' parents or
legal guardians of the school district's or public school academy's
dating violence policy. If requested, the school district or public
school academy shall provide the parents or legal guardians with
its dating violence policy and relevant information. It is strongly
recommended that the school district or public school academy
provide parent awareness training.
(4) Upon written request to the school principal, a parent or
legal guardian of a pupil less than 18 years of age, within a
reasonable period of time after the request is made, shall be
permitted to examine the dating violence education program
instruction materials at the school in which his or her child is
enrolled.
(5) This section does not prevent a victim from seeking
redress under any other available law, either civil or criminal.
This section does not create or alter any tort liability.
(6) As used in this section:
(a) "At school" means in a classroom, on or immediately
adjacent to school premises, on a school bus or other school-
related vehicle, at an official school bus stop, or at any school-
sponsored activity or event whether or not it is on school grounds.
(b) "Dating partner" means any person, regardless of gender,
involved in an intimate relationship with another primarily
characterized by the expectation of affectionate involvement
whether casual, serious, or long-term.
(c) "Dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where 1
person uses threats of, or actually uses, physical, sexual, verbal,
or emotional abuse to control his or her dating partner.