A bill for an act modifying provisions related to the harassment or bullying of students enrolled in school districts or accredited nonpublic schools.(See HF 865 .)

House

File

149

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

149

BY

BODEN

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

modifying

provisions

related

to

the

harassment

or

1

bullying

of

students

enrolled

in

school

districts

or

2

accredited

nonpublic

schools.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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1429YH

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jda/jh

H.F.

149

Section

1.

Section

279.10,

subsection

2,

paragraph

b,

Code

1

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

b.

An

attendance

center

or

school

authorized

to

maintain

3

a

year-round

calendar

must

serve

all

students

attending

the

4

school

and

shall

not

be

limited

based

on

student

achievement

or

5

based

on

the

trait

or

characteristic

of

the

student

as

defined

6

in

section

280.28

,

Code

2024

.

7

Sec.

2.

Section

280.28,

subsection

2,

paragraph

b,

8

unnumbered

paragraph

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

9

follows:

10

“Harassment”

and

“bullying”

shall

be

construed

to

mean

any

11

electronic,

written,

verbal,

or

physical

act

or

conduct

toward

12

a

student

which

is

based

on

any

actual

or

perceived

trait

13

or

characteristic

of

the

student

and

which

that

creates

an

14

objectively

hostile

school

environment

that

meets

one

or

more

15

of

the

following

conditions:

16

Sec.

3.

Section

280.28,

subsection

2,

paragraph

c,

Code

17

2025,

is

amended

by

striking

the

paragraph.

18

EXPLANATION

19

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

20

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

21

This

bill

modifies

provisions

related

to

the

harassment

or

22

bullying

of

students

enrolled

in

school

districts

or

accredited

23

nonpublic

schools.

24

Current

Code

section

280.28

requires

school

districts

and

25

accredited

nonpublic

schools

to

adopt

a

policy

declaring

26

harassment

and

bullying

in

schools,

on

school

property,

27

and

at

any

school

function,

or

school-sponsored

activity,

28

regardless

of

its

location,

as

against

state

and

school

29

policy.

Current

Code

section

280.28

defines

“harassment”

30

and

“bullying”

to

mean

any

electronic,

written,

verbal,

or

31

physical

act

or

conduct

toward

a

student

which

is

based

on

any

32

actual

or

perceived

trait

or

characteristic

of

the

student

33

and

which

creates

an

objectively

hostile

school

environment

34

that

meets

one

or

more

of

certain

specified

conditions.

The

35

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bill

modifies

the

definition

of

“harassment”

and

“bullying”

to

1

strike

the

language

related

to

any

actual

or

perceived

trait

or

2

characteristic

of

the

student.

3

The

definitions

of

“harassment”

and

“bullying”

used

in

4

Code

section

280.28

are

referenced

in

Code

sections

279.82

5

(intra-district

enrollment),

279.83

(notice

to

parents

6

or

guardians

related

to

physical

injuries,

harassment,

or

7

bullying),

and

282.18

(open

enrollment).

8

The

bill

strikes

the

definition

of

“trait

or

characteristic

9

of

the

student”

from

Code

section

280.28.

Code

section

10

279.10(2)(b)

(school

year

——

beginning

date

——

exemption)

11

references

the

definition

of

“trait

or

characteristic

of

the

12

student”

contained

in

Code

section

280.28.

The

bill

makes

13

a

conforming

change

to

Code

section

279.10(2)(b)

to

cite

to

14

the

definition

of

“trait

or

characteristic

of

the

student”

15

contained

in

Code

section

280.28,

Code

2024.

16

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