Maine's governor signs bill aimed at preventing bullying in schools
Governor John Baldacci of Maine has signed into law a bill aimed at preventing bullying in schools. According to the law's sponsors, it is the first legislation focused on providing help to teachers and administrators in recognizing bullying and understanding how to deal with it. Maine is the eighteenth state to enact legislation that deals with bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment, in schools. The new law requires school boards to define bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment and to develop new policies to deal with the behaviors by September 2006. A subcommittee of the Maine Children's Cabinet is creating model policies that will provide guidance for local school officials. In addition, the Maine School Management Association has offered to help draft new model policies that schools will be able to use to build on an existing law that requires a student code of conduct. The subcommittee, which includes educators, child development experts, and parents, also will develop training programs to teach teachers and staff how to deal with these behaviors in the classroom. Carol Grose, the state legislator who sponsored the law, believes current policies utilized by local school districts are inadequate because they fail to lay out procedures that could protect victims and prevent lawsuits against school districts. "Many schools have policies, but they are so disparate in how or if they define what bullying is," she says. "Under this law, schools will still have the freedom to update their policies to meet the unique needs of their communities, but they'll have some guidance from a group of experts."
Bangor Daily NewsBy Ruth Ellen Cohen
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Editor's Note: Last month, Legal Clips
noted that the Massachusetts attorney general had unveiled a plan for dealing with bullying and harassment in the state' public schools. See below.]
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