18A:37-21 School safety teams.

18. a. A school district shall form a school safety team in each school in the district to develop, foster, and maintain a positive school climate by focusing on the on-going, systemic process and practices in the school and to address school climate issues such as harassment, intimidation, or bullying. A school safety team shall meet at least two times per school year.

b. A school safety team shall consist of the principal or his designee who, if possible, shall be a senior administrator in the school and the following appointees of the principal: a teacher in the school; a school anti-bullying specialist; a parent of a student in the school; and other members to be determined by the principal. The school anti-bullying specialist shall serve as the chair of the school safety team.

c. The school safety team shall:

(1) receive any complaints of harassment, intimidation, or bullying of students that have been reported to the principal;

(2) receive copies of any report prepared after an investigation of an incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying;

(3) identify and address patterns of harassment, intimidation, or bullying of students in the school;

(4) review and strengthen school climate and the policies of the school in order to prevent and address harassment, intimidation, or bullying of students;

(5) educate the community, including students, teachers, administrative staff, and parents, to prevent and address harassment, intimidation, or bullying of students;

(6) participate in the training required pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2002, c.83 (C.18A:37-13 et seq.) and other training which the principal or the district anti-bullying coordinator may request;

(7) collaborate with the district anti-bullying coordinator in the collection of district-wide data and in the development of district policies to prevent and address harassment, intimidation, or bullying of students; and

(8) execute such other duties related to harassment, intimidation, and bullying as requested by the principal or district anti-bullying coordinator.

d. The members of a school safety team shall be provided professional development opportunities that address effective practices of successful school climate programs or approaches.

e. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a parent who is a member of the school safety team shall not participate in the activities of the team set forth in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection c. of this section or any other activities of the team which may compromise the confidentiality of a student.

L.2010, c.122, s.18.