Cyberbullying: off-campus acts: model policy.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify what the model policy should include, leaving room for interpretation on its content.

Cyberbullying: Model Policy for Off-Campus Acts

This law requires the State Department of Education to create a model policy on handling cyberbullying that happens outside of school hours and off-campus, which local schools must adopt or modify their existing policies by July 1, 2027.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Department of Education to develop a model policy for addressing certain reported acts of cyberbullying occurring outside of school hours and off campus by June 30, 2026.
• Local educational agencies must adopt or modify their existing bullying prevention procedures to include how they will address reported acts of cyberbullying happening outside of school by July 1, 2027.
• Each local educational agency is required to post its adopted policy on the internet website and the websites of each school it runs.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local educational agencies in California
• Students who experience cyberbullying outside of school hours or off campus

Terms To Know

Cyberbullying

Bullying that happens online, through social media, text messages, emails, and other digital platforms.

Local educational agency

A school district or charter school in California responsible for providing education to students.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what the model policy should include.
• It is unclear how much it will cost local schools to implement these new policies.

Official Summary Text

AB 772, Lowenthal.
Cyberbullying: off-campus acts: model policy.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to post, and annually update, on the State Department of Education’s internet website and notify local educational agencies of the availability of a list of statewide resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth, and their families, who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, as provided. Existing law requires a local educational agency to adopt, on or before December 31, 2019, procedures for preventing acts of bullying, including cyberbullying.
This bill would require the department, on or before June 30, 2026, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to develop, post on its internet
website, and distribute to each local educational agency, as defined, a model policy on how to address certain reported acts of cyberbullying occurring outside of school hours and outside of the campus, as specified. The bill would require the model policy to clarify that local educational agencies are authorized, but not required, to address those acts. The bill would require each local educational agency, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt a policy, or modify its existing procedures for preventing acts of bullying, on how to address certain reported acts of cyberbullying occurring outside of school hours and outside of the campus, as
specified. The bill would authorize the adopted policy to be the model policy developed by the department or a locally adopted policy with input from stakeholders. The bill would require each local educational agency to post a copy of the adopted policy on its internet website and the internet website of each of its schoolsites. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill
would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF