Demi Brae Cuccia Awareness Organization - Amendment To House Bill No. 2026

Conklin urges House action on teen dating violence bill. HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA - DEC. 3, 2009 - Centre County state Rep. Scott Conklin held a news conference today to urge House action on his bill that would require public schools to provide education on teen dating violence. Conklin's legislation (H.B. 2026) would integrate teen dating violence education into middle and high school curriculum's, and would require school districts to develop an anti-dating violence policy. School faculty and administrators would be taught about dating violence and how to recognize its warning signs. School would provide age-appropriate education into the classroom, including warning signs about dating violence and characteristics of healthy relationships. Conklin was joined by Dr. Gary A. Cuccia, Demi's father, his wife Johanna and daughter Alexa. Demi, was a Monroeville teen who lost her life as a result of dating violence. Conklin's legislation would be named the "Demi Brae Cuccia Law" under a proposed amendment. "Teen dating violence is a state problem and it's a national problem" Conklin said. "I applaud schools that have already instituted dating violence programs into their curriculum, but we must continue to push to educate students about the warning signs of unhealthy dating as well as characteristics of healthy dating." Conklin added the news conference coincided with Liz Claiborne Inc.'s sixth annual "It's Time to Talk Day," which raises awareness of domestic violence. It is imperative that you contact your local representatives and senators to strongly encourage them to support the "Demi Brae Cuccia Bill" (H.B. 2026) This legislation is long overdue! We must provide our children with this life-saving educational tool. HELP US EMPOWER OUR CHILDREN THROUGH EDUCATION!

LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) Amendments To House Bill 2026 Sponsor: Printer's No. 2766 (Amendment Page 1) 1 Amend Bill, page 1, by inserting between lines 6 and 7 2 The General Assembly finds and declares that: 3 (1) Criminal Acts commited against teenagers by other 4 young persons are a serious problem in this Commonwealth. 5 (2) Many of the criminal acts take form of dating 6 violence. 7 (3) On August 15, 2007, Demi Brae Cuccia, a 16-year-old 8 student at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Allegheny 9 County, was fatally stabbed 16 times by her former boyfriend, 10 who then made an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life. 11 (4) The 18-year-old person arrested for the brutal 12 attack was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced 13 to life in prison without parole. 14 (5) In order to educate teens and their parents 15 regarding teen dating violence, the family of Demi Brae 16 Cuccia has established the Demi Brae Cuccia Awareness Organization 17 (6) Students in our secondary schools need to be 18 educated about the dangers of teen dating violence so that 19 other teenagers will not have to share the same fate as 20 Demi Brae Cuccia. The above Amendment is attached to the following Act. An Act (Page 1) 1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No. 14), entitled "An 2 act relating to the public school system, including certain 3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial 4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the 5 laws relating thereto," in terms and courses of study, 6 providing for dating violence education. 7 The General Assembly finds and declares that: 8 (1) Criminal acts commited against teenagers by other 9 young persons are a serious problem in this Commonwealth. 10 (2) Many of the criminal acts take the form of dating 11 violence. 12 (3) On August 15, 2007, Demi Brae Cuccia, a 16-year-old 13 student at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Allegheny 14 County, was fatally stabbed 16 times by her former boyfriend, 15 who then made an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life. 16 (4) The 18-year-old person arrested for the brutal 17 attack was was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced 18 to life in prison without parole. 19 (5) In order to educate teens and their parents (Page 2) 1 regarding teen dating violence, the family of Demi Brae 2 Cuccia has established the Demi Brae Cuccia Awareness Organization. 3 (6) Students in our secondary schools need to be 4 educated about the dangers of teen dating violence so that 5 other teenagers will not have to share the same fate as Demi 6 Brae Cuccia. 7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 8 hereby enacts as follows: 9 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known 10 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a 11 section to read: 12 Section 1526. Dating Violence Education.-- (a) The 13 department shall develop a model dating violence policy to 14 assist school districts in developing policies for dating 15 violence reporting and response. The model policy shall be 16 issued on or before April 1, 2010. 17 (b) (1) (i) Each school district shall establish a 18 specific policy to address incidents of dating violence 19 involving students at school by December 1, 2010. Each school 20 district shall verify compliance with the department on an 21 annual basis through the annual school health report. 22 (ii) The policy shall include, but not be limited to, a 23 statement that dating violence will not be tolerated, dating 24 violence reporting procedures, guidelines for responses to 25 dating violence at school and discipline procedures for students 26 that commit dating violence at school. 27 (iii) The policy shall be published in any school district 28 policy or handbook that specifies the comprehensive rules, 29 procedures and standards of conduct for students at school. 30 (2) (i) A school district shall provide dating violence (Page 3) 1 training to all administrators, teachers, nurses and mental 2 health staff at the middle school and high school levels. Upon 3 the recommendation of the district superintendent, other staff 4 may be included or may attend the training on a volunteer basis. 5 (ii) The dating violence training shall include, but not be 6 limited to, basic principles of dating violence, warning signs 7 of dating violence, the district's dating violence policy 8 and appropriate responses to incidents of dating violence at 9 school. 10 (iii) The training shall be provided annually to all newly 11 hired staff deemed appropriate to receive the training by the 12 school's administration. 13 (3) A school district shall inform the students' parents or 14 legal guardians of the school district's dating violence policy. 15 If requested, the school district shall provide the parents or 16 legal guardians with the school district's dating violence 17 policy and relevant information. The school district may provide 18 voluntary parent awareness traiining. 19 (4) (i) A school district shall incorporate dating violence 20 education that is age-appropriate into the annual health 21 curriculum framework for students in grades seven through 22 twelve. 23 (ii) Dating violence education shall include, but not be 24 limited to, defining dating violence and recognizing dating 25 violence warning signs and characteristics of healthy 26 relationships. The school district shall also provide students 27 with the school district's dating violence policy. 28 (c) Upon written request to the school principal, a parent 29 or legal guardian of a student who is under eighteen (18) years 30 of age, within a reasonable period of time after the request is (Page 4) 1 made, shall be permitted to examine the dating violence 2 education program instruction materials at the school in which 3 the student is enrolled. 4 (d) This section shall not be contrued as preventing a 5 person from seeking judicial relief from dating violence under 6 any other law or as establishing or modifying any civil 7 liability. 8 (e) As used in this section, the following words and phrases 9 shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection: 10 "At school" shall mean in a classroom, on or immediately 11 adjacent to school premises, on a school bus or other school- 12 related vehicle, at an official school bus stop or at any 13 school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is on 14 school grounds. 15 "Dating partner" shall mean a person, regardless of gender 16 involved in an intimate relationship with another person, 17 primarily characterized by the expectation of affectionate 18 involvement, whether casual, serious or long term. 19 "Dating violence" shall mean a pattern of behavior where one 20 person uses threats of, or actually uses, physical, sexual, 21 verbal or emotional abuse to control the person's dating 22 partner. 23 "Department" shall mean the Department of Education of the 24 Commonwealth. 25 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU
(Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
Amendments To House Bill 2026
Sponsor: Printer's No. 2766

(Amendment Page 1)

1     Amend Bill, page 1, by inserting between lines 6 and 7
2     The General Assembly finds and declares that:
3          (1) Criminal Acts commited against teenagers by other
4     young persons are a serious problem in this Commonwealth.
5          (2) Many of the criminal acts take form of dating
6     violence.
7          (3) On August 15, 2007, Demi Brae Cuccia, a 16-year-old
8     student at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Allegheny
9     County, was fatally stabbed 16 times by her former boyfriend,
10    who then made an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life.
11         (4) The 18-year-old person arrested for the brutal
12    attack was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced
13    to life in prison without parole.
14         (5) In order to educate teens and their parents
15    regarding teen dating violence, the family of Demi Brae
16    Cuccia has established the Demi Brae Cuccia Awareness Organization
17         (6) Students in our secondary schools need to be
18    educated about the dangers of teen dating violence so that
19    other teenagers will not have to share the same fate as
20    Demi Brae Cuccia.

The above Amendment is attached to the following Act.

An Act
(Page 1)

1     Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No. 14), entitled "An
2     act relating to the public school system, including certain
3     provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4     schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5     laws relating thereto," in terms and courses of study,
6     providing for dating violence education.
7     The General Assembly finds and declares that:
8          (1) Criminal acts commited against teenagers by other
9     young persons are a serious problem in this Commonwealth.
10         (2) Many of the criminal acts take the form of dating
11    violence.
12         (3) On August 15, 2007, Demi Brae Cuccia, a 16-year-old
13    student at Gateway High School in Monroeville, Allegheny
14    County, was fatally stabbed 16 times by her former boyfriend,
15    who then made an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life.
16         (4) The 18-year-old person arrested for the brutal
17    attack was was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced
18    to life in prison without parole.
19         (5) In order to educate teens and their parents

(Page 2)

1     regarding teen dating violence, the family of Demi Brae
2     Cuccia has established the Demi Brae Cuccia Awareness Organization.
3          (6) Students in our secondary schools need to be
4     educated about the dangers of teen dating violence so that
5     other teenagers will not have to share the same fate as Demi
6     Brae Cuccia.
7     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8     hereby enacts as follows:
9          Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
10    as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
11    section to read:
12 Section 1526. Dating Violence Education.-- (a) The
13 department shall develop a model dating violence policy to
14 assist school districts in developing policies for dating
15 violence reporting and response. The model policy shall be
16    issued on or before April 1, 2010.
17 (b)    (1)    (i)    Each school district shall establish a
18    specific policy to address incidents of dating violence
19    involving students at school by December 1, 2010. Each school
20    district shall verify compliance with the department on an
21    annual basis through the annual school health report.
22 (ii)    The policy shall include, but not be limited to, a
23    statement that dating violence will not be tolerated, dating
24    violence reporting procedures, guidelines for responses to
25    dating violence at school and discipline procedures for students
26    that commit dating violence at school.
27 (iii)    The policy shall be published in any school district
28    policy or handbook that specifies the comprehensive rules,
29    procedures and standards of conduct for students at school.
30         (2)   (i)   A school district shall provide dating violence

(Page 3)

1    training to all administrators, teachers, nurses and mental
2    health staff at the middle school and high school levels. Upon
3 the recommendation of the district superintendent, other staff
4 may be included or may attend the training on a volunteer basis.
5    (ii)   The dating violence training shall include, but not be
6 limited to, basic principles of dating violence, warning signs
7 of dating violence, the district's dating violence policy
8 and appropriate responses to incidents of dating violence at
9 school.
10 (iii)   The training shall be provided annually to all newly
11    hired staff deemed appropriate to receive the training by the
12    school's administration.
13 (3)   A school district shall inform the students' parents or
14    legal guardians of the school district's dating violence policy.
15    If requested, the school district shall provide the parents or
16    legal guardians with the school district's dating violence
17    policy and relevant information. The school district may provide
18    voluntary parent awareness traiining.
19 (4)   (i)   A school district shall incorporate dating violence
20    education that is age-appropriate into the annual health
21    curriculum framework for students in grades seven through
22    twelve.
23 (ii)   Dating violence education shall include, but not be
24    limited to, defining dating violence and recognizing dating
25    violence warning signs and characteristics of healthy
26    relationships. The school district shall also provide students
27    with the school district's dating violence policy.
28 (c)   Upon written request to the school principal, a parent
29    or legal guardian of a student who is under eighteen (18) years
30    of age, within a reasonable period of time after the request is

(Page 4)

1 made, shall be permitted to examine the dating violence
2 education program instruction materials at the school in which
3 the student is enrolled.
4    (d)   This section shall not be contrued as preventing a
5   person from seeking judicial relief from dating violence under
6 any other law or as establishing or modifying any civil
7 liability.
8    (e)   As used in this section, the following words and phrases
9 shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:
10 "At school" shall mean in a classroom, on or immediately
11    adjacent to school premises, on a school bus or other school-
12    related vehicle, at an official school bus stop or at any
13    school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is on
14    school grounds.
15 "Dating partner" shall mean a person, regardless of gender
16    involved in an intimate relationship with another person,
17    primarily characterized by the expectation of affectionate
18    involvement, whether casual, serious or long term.
19 "Dating violence" shall mean a pattern of behavior where one
20    person uses threats of, or actually uses, physical, sexual,
21    verbal or emotional abuse to control the person's dating
22    partner.
23 "Department" shall mean the Department of Education of the
24    Commonwealth.
25         Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.