SENATE BILL 248

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Steven P. Neville

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS; REQUIRING THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A STATEWIDE, SCHOOL-SPECIFIC ANONYMOUS REPORTING PROGRAM TO REPORT HARMFUL ACTIVITY THAT HAS OCCURRED, IS OCCURRING OR MAY OCCUR IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL OR THAT INVOLVES A SCHOOL EMPLOYEE OR STUDENT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] ANONYMOUS REPORTING PROGRAM--REPORTING DANGEROUS OR OTHER HARMFUL ACTIVITIES--DATABASE--HOTLINE, CRISIS CENTERS, WEBSITES AND PHONE APPLICATIONS.--

          A. As used in this section:

                (1) "evidence-based" means a program or practice that:

                     (a) demonstrates a statistically significant effect on relevant outcomes based on: 1) strong evidence from not less than one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study; 2) moderate evidence from not less than one well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study; or 3) promising evidence from not less than one well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias; or

                     (b) demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that such program or practice is likely to improve relevant outcomes and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the program or practice;

                (2) "harmful activity" means any dangerous, violent, threatening or otherwise harmful activity that has occurred, is occurring or may occur at a public school or other school property or when such activity involves a school employee or a student; and

                (3) "program" means the anonymous reporting program.

          B. The department shall, in collaboration with local law enforcement, school districts, charter schools and other agencies, make available to all public schools a statewide "anonymous reporting program", which enables a student to report harmful activity anonymously. Other state agencies shall cooperate with the department as needed to develop and implement the program. The department may contract for any part or all of the development and implementation of the program for which the department is responsible. The department shall promulgate rules to carry out the provisions of this section.

          C. Every school district and charter school shall implement the program in every public school under its authority as soon as practicable after the department establishes the program, but no later than thirty-six months after the program is operational. Every public school shall include training for students and program users each year. Each public school shall have one or more school-based teams made up of at least one school staff member who shall serve as the primary point of contact to receive notice of any report submitted to the program concerning that public school, its school personnel or any of its students. The school districts and charter schools, in conjunction with the department, shall develop procedures for the proper handling of anonymous reports. Team members shall be trained and certified as required by department rule.

          D. The department shall, within twelve months of the effective date of this section, develop a state searchable database for all reports received through the anonymous reporting program that provides disaggregated data of the kind required for school district, charter school and department annual reports. The database shall include a resource portal that contains current names of points of contact within each local law enforcement dispatch, a primary contact within each public school who is responsible for managing the school-based team, hotline and multilingual crisis center contact numbers, public school website addresses and other information deemed necessary by the department.

          E. The program shall include the operation of a hotline, one or more multilingual crisis centers, a website and a mobile phone application that allows students to report harmful activity.

          F. Program hotlines and crisis centers shall be staffed by persons with evidence-based counseling and crisis intervention training.

          G. The program shall meet the following requirements:

                (1) support anonymous reporting twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week;

                (2) forward reported harmful activity information promptly to the primary point of contact or other appropriate person at the public school, to certain other persons as determined by the department and, when applicable, to local law enforcement dispatch and other appropriate law enforcement agencies;

                (3) support a coordinated response by public schools and, when necessary, law enforcement agencies;

                (4) require and certify the training of law enforcement in each local dispatch to receive notice of any report submitted to the program that requires law enforcement response;

                (5) be in compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and relevant state laws;

                (6) promote public awareness and education about the program and its reporting methods, prior to launching the program;

                (7) implement an evidence-based student violence prevention training that teaches students how to identify observable warning signs and signals of a person who may be at risk of harming self or others, the importance of taking threats seriously and seeking help and how to report a threat using the program; and

                (8) other requirements determined by the department to make the program user-friendly, responsive, proactive and effective.

          H. In the first year in which the program is implemented, the department shall require all school districts and charter schools to submit a report containing the total number of disciplinary actions in the previous twelve months, disaggregated by public school; type of disciplinary action; and the gender, age and race of the student subject to the disciplinary action.

          I. Each year following implementation of the program, the department shall require all school districts and charter schools to submit annual reports reflecting the total number of anonymous tips received by the school district or charter school and shall include the total number of responses to incoming reports, disaggregated by:

                (1) disciplinary actions by type;

                (2) nondisciplinary actions and

interventions; and

                (3) the gender, age and race of students subject to disciplinary action, non-disciplinary action or

intervention.

          J. The department shall prepare an annual report to the governor and the legislature that includes:

                (1) information from school district and charter school reports;

                (2) the total number of reports received for the previous school year, by public school; and

                (3) the total number of reports received since the program began, disaggregated by public school, and for each public school, the following:

                     (a) reports by type;

                     (b) the methods by which reports were received;

                     (c) the total number of false reports received; and

                     (d) any other information the department deems appropriate.

          K. If a report filed with the program involved a student and it is determined to be a false report, information about the student subject of the false report shall be immediately removed from the student's school record and any law enforcement record of the incident.

          L. To offset costs associated with the development and implementation of the program, the department shall apply for federal and private grants and may accept gifts and donations to the program."

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