Nevada Senate approves part of Sandoval’s anti-bullying campaign
CARSON CITY — A piece of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposal to combat bullying in schools was approved Monday by the state Senate.
Senate Bill 504 creates the Office for a Safe and Respectful Learning Environment within the Department of Education. It also sets specific requirements on how school officials must deal with incidents of bullying. Administrators, principals and other school officials who knowingly or willfully fail to meet the requirements could be subject to discipline, up to and including dismissal.
The bill passed the Senate 18-1 and now goes to the Assembly.
State Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, said he was appalled by testimony from victims during a hearing before a joint meeting of the Senate and Assembly education committees.
“Why have these teachers, principals and superintendents let this go to where it has so far?” Gustavson said before the vote on the Senate floor. “They should be punished for what they have allowed to happen.”
But Gustavson cast the lone “no” vote againt the bill, saying he thought the definition of bullying is “way too broad.”
State Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, said the measure could help victims and bullies alike.
“Hopefully this will give us the tools that we need to get help for not just the victim but for the person who’s the perpetrator,” said Hardy, who said his own granddaughter was a victim of school bullying.
The anti-bullying campaign is part of the Republican governor’s education agenda. His budget includes a new program called Social Workers in Schools, which would provide $36 million in grants to combat bullying. Another $300,000 in each of the next two years is also included in the governor’s budget to establish the Office for a Safe and Respectful Learning Environment.
In earlier committee testimony, parents told heart-wrenching accounts of how their young children were harassed and bullied physically and emotionally.
One girl, Hailee Lamberth, a student at White Middle School in Las Vegas, committed suicide and pointed to bullying as a reason in her suicide note, according to her father.
Other parents complained school officials did nothing to stop their children from being bullied or failed to notify parents.
Sandoval’s program sets up a 24-hour statewide hotline to report bullying. It mandates school officials notify a student’s parents or guardian by the end of the day and launch an investigation almost immediately.
Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb
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