DOVER, Del. (AP) - The state House is poised to vote on a bill expanding the reporting requirements for incidents of school bullying.
Under the existing law, school districts must report substantiated cases of bullying to the state Department of Education within five business days.
But officials have said it sometimes takes longer than that for a school administrator to verify a report of bullying, so the incident never gets reported.
Under the bill to be voted on Thursday, all reported incidents of bullying, regardless of whether they are substantiated, must be reported to the state.
THe bill also requires the Department of Education to conduct and report on random audits to ensure compliance with bullying reporting requirements, and to provide an annual report including all reported and all substantiated incidences of bullying.
