News Release
For Immediate Release
July 8, 2008
Contact:
Aaron Zappia
(215) 657-7700

Two Greenleaf Bills Approved

Greenleaf's Legislation Addressing Bullying in Schools and Placement of Twins in Classrooms Approved by PA General Assembly

HARRISBURG—Two bills sponsored by State Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf (R-Montgomery / Bucks) were approved by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Friday, July 4, 2008.  Language from Greenleaf's Senate Bill 71 addressing bullying in schools and Senate Bill 579 concerning the placement of twins and multiples in the classroom was included in an omnibus school code bill approved by the Legislature and now awaiting the Governor's signature.

School Bullying 

Addressing the widespread problem of bullying in Pennsylvania schools, Senate Bill 71 will require each of the state's public schools to adopt a policy on how to address incidents of bullying by January 1, 2009.  Each policy must spell out the disciplinary consequences for bullying and may include the development and implementation of bullying prevention, intervention and education programs and would be subject to review every three years. 

Also, the bill will authorize the Pennsylvania Office of Safe Schools to make grants available for the implementation of bullying prevention programs such as the widely used Olweus anti-bullying protocol, a Scandinavian system scientifically proven to reduce the number of bullying incidents in schools.  

Greenleaf, who first introduced the legislation in 2002 said, "This is something that I became concerned about following the Columbine High School Shooting.  Bullying is often the root cause of violent acts among school children.  At its worst, it can result in horrific violence, and at the very least causes life-long emotional damage to victims and impedes learning."  

The legislation also addresses cyber bullying; bullying that takes place over the internet, often outside of the school setting, which has become rampant in recent years.  The legislation defines bullying as a, "single intentional, electronic, written, verbal, or physical act."  School districts would have the option of expanding their own definition of bullying to include incidents taking place outside of the school, thereby allowing school officials to further intervene in cases of cyber bullying.   

80% of adolescents report being bullied during their school years.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 160,000 children miss school each day because they fear being bullied.  Also, according to the department, adults intervene in only 4% of bullying cases, and peers intervene about 11% of the time leaving 85% of incidents without intervention.   

Placement of Twins in the Classroom 

Senate Bill 579 amends the Public School Code to allow parents to request that their twins or higher order multiples be placed in the same or separate classrooms if the children are in the same grade level at the same school.   

Many school districts have unwritten policies separating twins and multiples; placement decisions are not made on a case-by-case basis, depending on individual children's needs.  There is no scientific evidence supporting the separation of twins or higher order multiples in schools and some experts contend that separation actually harms children by introducing a level of stress that prevents them from learning and achieving at desirable levels. 

Though the legislation gives parental requests primary consideration, if school officials determine that such placement is disruptive or that such placement would require the school district to add an additional class to the grade level, they could overrule the request. Parents may appeal decisions as provided for by district policy.  Parents must submit all requests within 10 days of the start of the school year.    

Greenleaf became interested in this issue when contacted by a Huntingdon Valley constituent, the mother of twin boys who brought to the Senator's attention that it is the unwritten policy of many school districts to separate twins as soon as the children enter school. 

"Over the years I have been contacted by the parents of twins and higher order multiples who wanted their children placed in the same classroom," said Senator Greenleaf. "Until now, the law did not allow them to have a say in the matter, and they felt that it had a detrimental impact on their children when they were separated.  So, with the passage of this legislation, the parents' choice will now have priority."