This bill mandates that school boards develop and implement written policies to prohibit bullying and cyberbullying by January 1, 2026. The policies must include definitions from existing law and outline specific components to address these issues. Additionally, the bill requires every school receiving state funding to report substantiated incidents of bullying, cyberbullying, or targeted acts against protected classes to the Department of Education at the end of each semester, rather than annually as previously stated. The reports must not include personally identifiable information and should utilize a standardized form developed by the department, which will also include a narrative description of incidents and their resolutions.

Furthermore, the Department of Education is tasked with preparing an annual report detailing the number and types of bullying incidents, which will be submitted to various legislative leaders and the attorney general's office of civil rights. The department is also required to maintain and aggregate records of these reports and publish a public database of the data organized by school. The act is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 193-F:6
HB673 text: 193-F:6