Expect school vouchers, budget shortfalls, and the rights of transgender students to divide the Legislature next year. School bullying could, too.
Lawmakers behind the renewed efforts to rein in bullying say their goal is to address shortcomings in the state’s existing laws and reporting requirements. They’re also responding to calls for more accountability on the part of parents and schools alike.
Of the four bullying bills proposed so far, one from Rep. Peter Leishman, a Peterborough Democrat, may be the most controversial. It would allow school districts to take parents and guardians to court if their child had bullied someone and they refused to help the school address the behavior. Parents could face a $750 fine or community service.
“It has become more and more difficult to get parents to come to the table and be part of the solution."Lisa Walker, superintendent in Grantham
Lisa Walker, superintendent of the Grantham School District, asked Leishman to file the bill. It’s a response, she said, to parents who undermine schools by rejecting concerns about their child’s behavior, including findings of bullying.
Walker recalled one parent who addressed her child’s suspension for bullying in a social media post. The parent faulted the school, defended her daughter and said she comforted her child with a trip to the nail salon for a manicure and pedicure.
“It has become more and more difficult to get parents to come to the table and be part of the solution,” Walker said. “You have just taken away any authority the school has in addressing any behavior when that is the response from the parent. That is what is really frustrating and I don’t think is really understood.”
Under Leishman’s bill, parents and guardians would have to attend an initial conference with school officials and take at least one anti-bullying-prevention course. The district could return to court if the student bullied someone again.
Parents could face up to a $750 fine or community service if they failed to persuade a judge they had meaningfully tried to address their child’s bullying.
Under a law passed in 2021, parents can sue school districts if they feel the district showed “gross negligence or willful misconduct” in addressing bullying or cyberbullying of their child. Rep. Glenn Cordelli, the Tuftonboro Republican behind that change, said he is unaware of it ever being used.
Walker is ready to defend what she expects will be a controversial proposal. She wants people to understand how little time students spend in school versus in their parents’ care. Schools can do only so much, she said, without parents' support.
“I think there is a general misconception that bullying is only a school thing,” Walker said. “It’s not and it never has been.”
Another sweeping proposal comes from Sen. Donovan Fenton, a Democrat from Keene, who wants to see a broad study of bullying, including how it’s handled and how to prevent or at least mitigate it.
Fenton filled the bill after a 13-year-old Keene student died by suicide this fall, following what her mother described repeated bullying by other students. Fenton said he’s heard concern from parents, teachers, administrators, and community members.
“There is no one fix for this. It’s such a complex issue,” Fenton said. “We love local control but I think our schools need guidance on what other states are doing.”
He thinks everyone, including parents, need to play a role in protecting students from bullying.
"You are responsible for your child,” Fenton said. “If you are bullying at school, you were not taught that in a school environment. They are not creating bullies in school. It comes from home. How do schools address that?”
Too little transparency?
Schools received nearly 1,870 reports of bullying last school year, according to data released this month from the Department of Education. That included almost 330 reports of cyberbullying, and 64 incidents involving physical harm to students.
"If we don’t know where and when incidents are happening, we can’t take action.”Rep. Loren Selig, of Durham
Rep. Loren Selig, a Durham Democrat, was surprised by what that report didn’t reveal: Most school districts reported fewer than 10 incidents of bullying and many reported none, even in schools where law enforcement was known to have investigated bullying.
Selig said she also discovered that most schools had not provided their plans for bullying prevention, as required by prior legislation. That’s in part, she said, because the legislation did not include a deadline or other key requirements.
“No one is auditing (schools) or checking them in any capacity,” Selig said. “There is clearly a problem with the reporting process and the accountability component.”
She is sponsoring legislation that would set a Jan. 1, 2026, deadline for schools to complete and submit their plans for preventing and mitigating bullying. She also wants to see consistency when it comes to reporting.
Without that, the state has no ability to assess how and how effectively districts are addressing bullying, Selig said.
“My ultimate goal for all of this, really, is not so much about specific bullying in schools and the specific hate crimes incidents in schools, although I’d obviously like that to stop,” Selig said. “My goal is to prevent it before it happens. But if we don’t know where and when incidents are happening, we can’t take action.”
The Department of Education declined to make anyone available for an interview about the role in ensuring reporting is accurate. In an email, department spokesperson Kim Houghton said the department’s role is to gather district data on bullying incidents and provide support “to address identified problems with student safety and violence prevention, as required by statute.”
“If the department determines that school districts have failed to comply with statutory reporting requirements, potentially placing students at risk, appropriate actions will be pursued,” the statement said.
Getting to the bottom of a bullying report can be incredibly challenging and time consuming. Rep. Valerie McDonnell, a Salem Republican, knows it becomes harder still when bullying involves multiple school districts, which are often limited in what student information they can share. She has grown concerned that such incidents are going unaddressed if neither district takes on the responsibility to investigate, so she’s filed legislation to clarify that process.
“It’s a difficult conversation to have but we must have it,” McDonnell said. “We know bullying is one of the contributors to the mental health crisis. And if that’s not addressed, we can see devastating effects that can lead to self-harm or even suicide.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also get mental health support by calling or texting New Hampshire's Rapid Response Access Point at 833-710-6477.
