As bullying in the local schools remains a big problem, parents should consider testifying for legislation that could help parents and students. There’s a public hearing next Wed. on House Bill 1335, “An Act relative to private rights of action regarding pupil safety.”
Related: Bullying at Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua
Wednesday, January 15th at 11 am in the Legislative Office Building, Rm 207 in Concord.
The bill establishes that if there is “gross misconduct or willful negligence” by a district in dealing with bullying or cyberbullying, the parents have a private right of action.
Typically, parents are expected to go through a lengthy process with the school, administration, and Department of Education before appealing to the court. There have been exceptions, such as the recent bullying case in Nashua, which was resolved outside of the district as the parent went directly to court to obtain restraining orders.
If you’ve been involved in a bullying case, your viewpoint on bullying could be very helpful in obtaining a fair outcome for this bill.
Please contact the bill’s sponsor: Rep. Glenn Cordelli if you are willing to testify at the hearing or are willing to submit a letter. Glenn is a state representative on the House Education Committee, who’s very interested in helping parents.
The proposed legislation that addresses bullying and cyberbullying in the schools: HB1335
1.Safety and Violence Prevention; Pupil Safety Private Right of Action. RSA 193-F:9 is repealed
and reenacted to read as follows:
193-F:9 Private Right of Action Permitted. Any person aggrieved as a result of gross negligence or willful misconduct in violation of any provision of this chapter may initiate an action against a school district or chartered public school and may recover court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees as the prevailing party. Nothing in this section shall supercede or replace existing rights or remedies under any other law.
You will need to fill out a pink card and hand it to one of the committee members in order to speak.
Having people show up to testify has the most impact on the committee.
Asking the other parents to attend, especially those whose children have experienced bullying with little or no help from school administrators, would be very helpful. Please reach out to parents with this information. If parents cannot attend, emailing the members below is also helpful.
HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Mel Myler Mel.Myler@leg.state.nh.us –> Chairman
- David Luneau dluneauNH@gmail.com –> VChairman
- Linda Tanner linda.tanner@leg.state.nh.us–> Clerk
- Barbara Shaw beshaw3@comcast.net
- Patricia Cornell patricia.cornell@leg.state.nh.us
- David Doherty David.Doherty@leg.state.nh.us
- Tamara Le Tamara.Le@leg.state.nh.us
- Arther Ellison Art.Ellison@leg.state.nh.us
- Sue Mullen Sue.Mullen@leg.state.nh.us
- Cole Riel Cole.Riel@leg.state.nh.us
- Mark Vallone Mark.Vallone@leg.state.nh.us
- Stephen Woodcock Steve.Woodcock@leg.state.nh.us
- Rick Ladd ladd.nhhouse@charter.net
- Glen Cordelli glenn.cordelli@leg.state.nh.us
- Robert Elliot bob.elliott@leg.state.nh.us
- Ralph Boehm rgboehm@comcast.net
- Dan Wold Dan.Wolf@leg.state.nh.us
- James Allard JC.Allard@leg.state.nh.us
- Robert Forsythe docrlf@yahoo.com
- Alicia Lekas rep.alicia.lekas@gmail.com
