S 7719: Strengthens protections against discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on actual or perceived immigration status, and to improve implementation and oversight under the Dignity for All Students Act.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7719 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE May 1, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to strengthening protections against discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on actual or perceived immigration status, and to improve implementation and oversight under the Dignity for All Students Act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "End Bullying and Discrimination in Schools Everywhere (BEACON) 3 Act". 4 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 10-a to read 5 as follows: 6 § 10-a. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that despite the 7 clear statutory mandates of the Dignity for All Students Act, implemen- 8 tation across school districts remains inconsistent. Students from immi- 9 grant and mixed-status families are especially vulnerable to bullying 10 and harassment and frequently lack meaningful recourse. This legislation 11 is intended not only to extend protections to these students but to 12 enhance the oversight, transparency, and accountability necessary to 13 fully realize the promise of the Dignity for All Students Act. 14 § 3. Section 10 of the education law, as added by chapter 482 of the 15 laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 16 § 10. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that students' ability 17 to learn and to meet high academic standards, and a school's ability to 18 educate its students, are compromised by incidents of discrimination or 19 harassment including bullying, taunting or intimidation. It is hereby 20 declared to be the policy of the state to afford all students in public 21 schools an environment free of discrimination and harassment. The 22 purpose of this article is to foster civility in public schools and to 23 prevent and prohibit conduct which is inconsistent with a school's EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11605-02-5 
 S. 7719 2 1 educational mission. Such prohibited conduct shall include acts based on 2 a student's actual or perceived immigration status or the immigration 3 statuses of a student's family members. 4 § 4. Section 11 of the education law, is amended by adding a new 5 subdivision 11 to read as follows: 6 11. "Immigration status" shall mean a person's actual or perceived 7 citizenship or residency status, including but not limited to United 8 States citizenship, lawful permanent residency, refugee or asylum 9 status, temporary protected status, Deferred Action for Childhood 10 Arrivals (DACA) status, or lack of lawful immigration status. For 11 purposes of this article, protections based on immigration status shall 12 also extend to students from mixed-status families, meaning families in 13 which one or more members have different immigration statuses, including 14 undocumented or noncitizen statuses. 15 § 5. Subdivision 7 of section 11 of the education law, as amended by 16 chapter 102 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 17 7. "Harassment" and "bullying" shall mean the creation of a hostile 18 environment by conduct or by threats, intimidation or abuse, including 19 cyberbullying, that (a) has or would have the effect of unreasonably and 20 substantially interfering with a student's educational performance, 21 opportunities or benefits, or mental, emotional or physical well-being; 22 or (b) reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a 23 student to fear for [his or her] their physical safety; or (c) reason- 24 ably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause physical injury or 25 emotional harm to a student; or (d) occurs off school property and 26 creates or would foreseeably create a risk of substantial disruption 27 within the school environment, where it is foreseeable that the conduct, 28 threats, intimidation or abuse might reach school property. Acts of 29 harassment and bullying shall include, but not be limited to, those acts 30 based on a person's actual or perceived race, color, weight, national 31 origin, ethnic group, immigration status, religion, religious practice, 32 disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex. For the purposes of this 33 definition the term "threats, intimidation or abuse" shall include 34 verbal and non-verbal actions. 35 § 6. Subdivision 1 of section 12 of the education law, as amended by 36 chapter 102 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 37 1. No student shall be subjected to harassment or bullying by employ- 38 ees or students on school property or at a school function; nor shall 39 any student be subjected to discrimination based on a person's actual or 40 perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, immi- 41 gration status, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orien- 42 tation, gender, or sex by school employees or students on school proper- 43 ty or at a school function. Nothing in this subdivision shall be 44 construed to prohibit a denial of admission into, or exclusion from, a 45 course of instruction based on a person's gender that would be permissi- 46 ble under section thirty-two hundred one-a or paragraph (a) of subdivi- 47 sion two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty-four of this chapter and 48 title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. section 1681, 49 et. seq.), or to prohibit, as discrimination based on disability, 50 actions that would be permissible under section 504 of the Rehabili- 51 tation Act of 1973. 52 § 7. Subdivision 3 of section 13 of the education law, as amended by 53 chapter 102 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 54 3. Guidelines relating to the development of nondiscriminatory 55 instructional and counseling methods, and requiring that at least one 56 staff member at every school be thoroughly trained to handle human 
 S. 7719 3 1 relations in the areas of race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic 2 group, immigration status, religion, religious practice, disability, 3 sexual orientation, gender, and sex; and 4 § 8. Section 13 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdi- 5 vision 6 to read as follows: 6 6. Each school district shall designate a Dignity Act compliance coor- 7 dinator or team responsible for ensuring effective implementation of the 8 policies and procedures required under this article. Such coordinator or 9 team shall monitor, and review reports of harassment, bullying, and 10 discrimination disaggregated by protected class, including immigration 11 status, and shall report such findings annually to the board of educa- 12 tion. Such report shall include data, summaries of responsive actions, 13 and any relevant policy updates. 14 § 9. Section 14 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdi- 15 vision 6 to read as follows: 16 6. The commissioner shall develop and make available to school 17 districts guidance on preventing and responding to harassment, bullying 18 and discrimination based on immigration status, including specific guid- 19 ance on addressing cyberbullying incidents targeting immigrant students. 20 Such guidance shall include model policies for school districts to 21 incorporate into their codes of conduct and best practices for training 22 school personnel and educating students and families on the rights of 23 students under this article. This guidance shall further recognize the 24 unique vulnerabilities of students from mixed-status families. 25 § 10. Section 15 of the education law, as amended by chapter 102 of 26 the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 27 § 15. Reporting by commissioner. The commissioner shall create a 28 procedure under which material incidents of harassment, bullying and 29 discrimination on school grounds or at a school function are reported to 30 the department at least on an annual basis. Such procedure shall provide 31 that such reports shall, wherever possible, also delineate the specific 32 nature of such incidents of harassment, bullying and discrimination, 33 [provided that the] disaggregated by protected category, including immi- 34 gration status, and shall be made publicly available in a manner 35 consistent with student privacy protections. The commissioner may comply 36 with the requirements of this section through use of the existing 37 uniform violent incident reporting system. In addition the department 38 may conduct research or undertake studies to determine compliance 39 throughout the state with the provisions of this article. 40 § 11. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 41 the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the 42 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary 43 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized 44 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.