Students, officials join governor in call for anti-bullying measures

DES MOINES - Trying to stop bullying in schools is an easy cause to support, Paul Gausman says. Passing a law that informs and authorizes schools on the issue has proved to be a greater challenge.

Gausman, the Sioux City Community School District superintendent, joined Gov. Terry Branstad and more than 100 Iowa students Tuesday at the Capitol to promote the governor's proposal to address bullying in Iowa's schools.

The governor's 'Bully Free Iowa Act of 2015” would provide funding to train educators on how to identify and address bullying, allow schools to address bullying that occurs on the Internet and notify parents of bullying unless it is determined such action would adversely affect the victim.

'Simply put, this will give us more tools in our toolbox in our district to fix some of the biggest challenges of bullying in our schools,” Gausman said.

State lawmakers tried last year to pass anti-bullying legislation but were unable to overcome disagreements over funding levels and schools' authority over off-campus incidents.

Branstad, who has made anti-bullying a priority for his administration, tweaked his proposal this year in hopes of easing those concerns and getting a bill passed.

'I'm optimistic we can get something done,” said Rep. Ron Jorgensen of Sioux City, who leads the Iowa House Education Committee. 'Looking at the bill, I think that the governor has listened to various constituencies (and) made tweaks to it to appease those (concerns).”

Branstad's new proposal dedicates $200,000 to training certain school officials. State lawmakers could not agree on that funding level a year ago, when Republicans proposed $25,000.

The new measure still requires parental notification of bullying incidents but adds an opt-out clause in case the student and school official think reporting would exacerbate the situation.

Those tweaks are intended to bridge the divide that existed last year among lawmakers.

'I think this is the year for this legislation to pass,” said Gausman, whose district has been a leader in implementing anti-bullying programs. Gausman said he approves of the changes. 'We believe the leadership is there and that we'll get this done this year.”

As of Tuesday, two groups are registered in opposition to the governor's proposal: The Family Leader, a faith-based advocacy group, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

A spokeswoman for the ACLU says the group also wants to see anti-bullying legislation passed but has concerns with the details of the authority given to schools in addressing off-campus incidents and with who may initiate an investigation.

'We continue to see the same basic problems regarding the monitoring and disciplining of speech made off school grounds in the bill filed this session,” said Rita Bettis, legal director for ACLU in Iowa. 'We are asking the governor's office and legislators to make adjustments to the bill to bring it into line with the constitutional rights of kids and their parents while still taking clear action to create a safe and accepting learning environment for kids at school.”