SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah lawmakers advanced a proposal on Friday that would require schools throughout the state collect additional data on bullying, including bullied students’ race, gender, age and disability status.
The proposal comes less than a year after a Black fifth-grader from North Salt Lake City died by suicide following reports of bullying.
Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor was the target of repeated harassment from other students for her skin color, eyebrows, a beauty mark on her forehead and for being autistic.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Sandra Hollins said Friday that new reporting requirements would foster better understanding the nature of school bullying, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
“We need to be able to know what is happening and know the story to be able to implement plans in our school system,” the Salt Lake City Democrat, who is Black, said in an education Committee.
After passing through the committee on an 8-3 vote, the proposal now heads to the full House for consideration. Hollins, who is Black, said she plans to make some updates to the measure, but hopes the urgency of the matter pushes lawmakers to pass it.
It comes amid a nationwide reckoning over racism that has compelled legislatures and school boards to confront pervasive racism and bullying, including in Las Vegas, Minnesota and New Mexico.
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