Sponsors Hope for Passage of Bullying Bills in Final Week

      A Missouri teenager who took her own life after being bullied at school has inspired legislation in her name, bills that aim to prevent similar tragedies and to spare families of one aspect of the pain that followed her death.

      The legislation has been supported by testimony from her family and carried by a representative who is a family friend. 

Representative Mazzie Christensen’s (R-Bethany) friend was Sawyer’s guardian and raised her when her parents lost custody of her due to abuse and neglect, some of it related to drug use.  Through her, Christensen learned what Sawyer went through the afternoon before she took her own life.

“The school had known that Sawyer had been bullied and was severely bullied that day.  She was called a fat cow, she had trash thrown at her, which is all on video, and she went to the bathroom crying.  The guardians and the family [were] never notified of what was going on at school.  There was no text, there was no call, nothing.”

      Legislation sponsored by Christensen and Representative John Black (R-Marshfield) would require schools to update their antibullying policies, and require that charter schools to adopt such policies. 

      Black has carried the legislation for several years, also motivated in large part by one incident, and the lack of response by the school in which it happened. 

      “A neighboring school district had a circumstance of bullying and that involved bullying of a mixed-race child and when the parents came to the school to address the problem, the response was ‘Yeah, we’ve had that problem around here for quite a while.'”

      Legislation from Christensen and Black, combined into House Bill 2120, would require districts’ policies to lay out how districts will respond when investigations find that bullying has occurred. 

      House Bill 2120 would reinforce current statutory definitions of “bullying,” “school violence,” and related crimes, and their classification under Missouri’s child abuse laws.  These statutes require reporting certain cases to child abuse investigators – reports which trigger investigation by child welfare officials and, in some cases, law enforcement. 

      Black told his colleagues, “The main emphasis of this bill is reporting.  To make sure that the administration knows what is going on, to make sure the administration investigates in a reasonable fashion under the time rules, to make sure that the administration abides by the rest of the laws already on the books, that if it’s criminal activity, it’s supposed to be reported to the police.  If it’s juvenile activity, it’s supposed to be reported to the juvenile authorities to make sure what they’re supposed to do.

      “And ultimately – and this is to me the key part of the bill – to make sure that the board knows what’s going on, because I’m convinced that in a lot of circumstances, the school board doesn’t have a clue.  So this makes sure that the school board knows what’s going on, gets the information, if the school board wants to take action to do something other than has been done, then they have to have the opportunity to do so.”

      Response to bullying, as laid out in the bill, must include notification of the parents or guardians of the students who engaged in bullying, and a requirement that those students participate in prevention programs. 

It would restrict the application of “zero-tolerance” policies – policies that any act of violence must result in discipline, regardless of circumstances – for any student who is a victim of bullying.  Statements regarding victims of bullying acting in self-defense would have to be considered by administrators when determining disciplinary action.  Charter schools would be banned from expelling or transferring students solely due to reports of bullying. 

District employees and volunteers who interact with students would have to be trained annually on bullying intervention, and about liability for actions or failures to act.  The bill would extend legal protection to school employees and volunteers who step in to stop incidents, as long as they follow proper procedures and act in good faith.

      Acts of bullying and related discipline would have to be reported to the school board monthly, to be reviewed in a closed meeting and addressed by the board within 30 days.   

      Christensen’s other bill inspired by Sawyer aims to ensure that those making decisions for dealing with the remains of a loved one who is a minor were the people who loved and cared for them in life. 

      Christensen said after Sawyer’s death, current law ensured that decisions regarding her internment and funeral fell to her next of kin.  This meant her father, who had lost custody of her because he had been abusing her.

      “It was very tragic because her own sister didn’t get to be in the burial proceedings.  When you’re dealing with a minor’s death, the court proceedings [are] different.  It takes weeks to be able to figure that out.  So, a very tragic death ended up being more tragic because they didn’t even have the ability to bury her with her family, and her sister didn’t even get to be involved,” Christensen said. 

      House Bill 1696 would specify that when a minor with a court-appointed guardian dies, that guardian will have final say in the care of the remains unless they are under investigation for the minor’s death.  In cases of co-guardianship or joint custody, the guardian or parent with whom the minor resides will have the stronger claim to that authority.  It also stresses that the religious, cultural, and individual beliefs of the deceased must be considered in making final arrangements.

      “We want to make sure that if somebody else ever had to go through this certain scenario, that it would be clear, it would be clean, especially with a court-appointed guardianship,” Christensen said. 

      The House voted 118-8 to send the bullying policy legislation to the Senate, where it has been voted out of a committee.  With one week left in the session, Rep. Black is hopeful it will be acted on before Friday, and if necessary, he believes others will continue to fight for this proposal next year.

      Christensen’s right of sepulcher legislation passed out of the House 140-0.  A Senate committee voted to advance the bill with changes, and it awaits action by the full Senate.