New School Year But Illinois’s New Anti-Bullying Law Isn’t In Full Effect Yet

Kids around Illinois are getting ready to go back to school and there's a new law in place to protect them from bullies.

Bullies are something a lot of us have had to deal with and a new policy in Illinois deals with exactly that. According to Disparti Law, earlier this year, lawmakers in the state passed House Bill 3425, which makes some updates to the state's school code.

But from what I could find, it's not set to go into full force until next school year. WCIA reports that the law goes into effect immediately (since it was signed this summer) but bullying data from the schools is not due until the 2024-2025 school year, according to law website Franczek. Here are a few of the new ways bullying will be addressed in the new law.

Before the new bill was passed, schools and teachers had to notify parents "promptly" if they saw their kid was being bullied. Law website Axios says that shortens the notification window from 10 days. If the bullying involves threats or self-harm, there are specific instructions the school has to follow when notifying the parent or guardian.

According to Disparti Law, the definition of what constitutes "bullying" was expanded to include: "physical appearance, socioeconomic status, pregnancy, parenting status, academic status, and homelessness".

Schools have to base their anti-bullying policies on the state's code but now, they also have to collect and submit "non-identifiable" data on allegations and instances of bullying to the state.

And speaking of data, parents or legal guardians of the kid can request to see the non-identifiable data on bullying incidents and allegations from the State Board of Education.

Axios says Illinois's last anti-bullying policies were written over a decade ago and the language appears outdated.