Lawmakers again consider anti-bullying policies

LANSING — Parents, students and school social workers were among those Tuesday urging state lawmakers to require Michigan schools to adopt anti-bullying and harassment policies.

In Cadillac, Superintendent Paul Liabenow said his district has had a policy in place for a number of years and recently modified it in January.

“We adopted an anti-bullying policy in January and it’s very clear on the consequences for bullying behavior,” he said. “I think all the districts in the area have something for bullying so students and parents know what is expected.”

Lawmakers — mostly Democrats — in the state Legislature are again trying to pass the bills, which have failed to make it into law in recent years.

Some lawmakers, primarily Republicans, have opposed the bills because they say they would take away control from local school boards to decide their own policies.

Others are concerned the legislation as written might not cover all potential cases of bullying and would protect students only in cases where they are being bullied for their sexual orientation, race, height or weight.

Regardless of what the final outcome of the bills are, Liabenow said his district’s focus will remain steadfast and on student achievement.

“Our job is to provide the best learning environment and that is where I will stay focused,” he said.

The State Board of Education already has anti-bullying and code of conduct model policies in place that districts could use if they wanted.

“It just seems a lot of policies already have been adopted,” said Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland.

But supporters of the legislation say model policies that don’t have the force of law and that schools have been slow to voluntarily adopt and enforce their own policies.

“It’s not strong enough,” said Rep. Pam Byrnes, a Democrat from Washtenaw County’s Lyndon Township who is one of the legislation’s sponsors. “Schools are not responding.”

The legislation in the House would require schools to adopt policies prohibiting harassment and bullying. The policies would have to be submitted to the Michigan Department of Education.

While the content of the policies largely would be left for local schools to decide, they would have to include age-appropriate consequences for violations. There also would have to be a plan in place make sure that complaints about harassment or bullying are promptly investigated.

Schools also would have to have a policy in place to deal with reports about bullying that turn out to be false.

Sue Harder of Holland told the House Education Committee that her elementary-age son was beaten up on a school bus, but school officials have been slow to help.

“Schools will not do this voluntarily, and that’s why we need this law,” she said.

The bill would be named after Matt Epling, an East Lansing student who killed himself in 2002 after a bullying incident.

Anti-bullying bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate this year.