H-1667.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2055

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Representatives Talcott, Haigh, Bush, D. Schmidt, Cox, Anderson and Skinner

Read first time 02/13/2001.  Referred to Committee on Education.

Providing students with increased opportunities to learn in schools where people are treated with respect and civility.

    AN ACT Relating to providing students with increased opportunities to learn in schools where people are treated with respect and civility; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature declares that students need and deserve a safe and civil school environment in order to learn and achieve high academic standards.  The legislature also finds that harassment, intimidation, bullying, and other disruptive or violent behaviors impair learning opportunities for individual and groups of students and, at times, make students who observe and receive the brunt of those behaviors feel that school is not a safe place in which to learn and grow.  The legislature also finds that students should learn to treat all people with respect and that schools have an opportunity to assist their students in learning the importance of treating all people with respect and civility.  The legislature further finds that when character education is integrated into a school's curriculum, there is a decline of incidences involving violence, bullying, and harassment, an increase in student attendance rates, and an enhancement of student learning opportunities in the positive school climate that results from the programs.  The legislature intends to support programs that local communities, in partnership with schools or school districts, will design.  However, the legislature intends that each of these education programs include components that help students learn the importance of treating each other and all people with respect and civility.

    Furthermore, the legislature finds that students learn by example.  The legislature commends school administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers for demonstrating appropriate behavior, treating others with civility and respect, and refusing to tolerate harassment, intimidation, or bullying.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  (1) Subject to availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide to each school district that develops and implements a character education program that meets the requirements of subsection (2) of this section, an equal amount per full-time equivalent student for the biennium ending June 30, 2003.  However, the minimum allocation to a district shall be two hundred dollars for each school operated by the district.

    (2) Each character education program shall be developed by locally elected school directors, in partnership with parents and all interested stakeholders in the local community.  In addition to other character traits and values emphasized, each program shall include an emphasis on the importance of respectful speech and conduct and shall recognize the responsibility of each adult in the school to refuse to tolerate the harassment, intimidation, or bullying of students or staff by anyone in the school.

    (3) A school district that receives funding in accordance with this section shall certify to the superintendent of public instruction that funds received were expended for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2001, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.

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