Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention

	Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention
	December 15, 2000
	By Dean B. Eggert
In the year 2000 session, the New Hampshire Legislature enacted the Pupil Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000. Set forth in N.H. R.S.A. 193-F:1, et. seq., the legislation was adopted to "protect our children from violence by dealing with harassment, including 'bullying', in our public schools." Under N.H. R.S.A. 193-F:2 each local school board is required to adopt a pupil safety and violence prevention policy which addresses pupil harassment and bullying. The act carries an effective date of January 1, 2001. The new law imposes a duty upon any school employee or employee of a company under contract with a school or school district who has witnessed or has reliable information that a pupil has been subjected to insults, taunts or challenges, whether verbal or physical in nature, which are likely to intimidate or provoke a violent or disorderly response to report the incident to the principal or the principal's designee who is in turn obligated to report the incident to the superintendent. The local school board is obligated to define the reporting requirement and is permitted to "provide opportunities for educators to have the knowledge and skills to prevent and respond to acts [of bullying]." The statute also provides a school employee or employee of a company under contract with a school or school district who has reported violations to the principal or has intervened to prevent an incident of bullying with immunity from any cause of action alleging failure to remedy the incident of bullying. This new provision of law explicitly states that no specific curriculum is required to implement a policy against bullying, but the act implies that one component of intervention will be education for educators as well as students.