SALT LAKE CITY — State lawmakers have passed a bill that will change the definition of bullying in schools.
Lawmakers credited stories by FOX 13 News, showing how some school districts failed to provide teacher bullying data to the public.
The current definition
Utah’s current definition of “bullying” is broader than some might expect.
Some districts stated it was difficult to fulfill requests for public records because of how broad the definition of bullying is in Utah.
According to 53G-9-601(3), the following types of cases match the state definition of bullying:
- Cases where an employee's behavior caused "physical or emotional harm to (victims).”
- Cases where an employee's behavior caused "damage to (victim's) property."
- Cases where an employee’s behavior placed a victim “in reasonable fear of harm to the (victim’s) physical or emotional well-being.”
- Cases where an employee’s behavior placed a victim “in reasonable fear of damage to the (victim’s) property.”
- Cases where an employee’s behavior created “a hostile, threatening, humiliating, or abusive educational environment.”
- Cases where an employee's behavior "substantially (interfered) with a student having a safe school environment that is necessary to facilitate education performance, opportunities, or benefits."
State law requires each school district to have a “bullying, cyber-bullying, hazing, abusive conduct, and retaliation policy” with definitions “consistent with” the above bullet points.
Teachers not disciplined for bullying, even when they bully
Some districts explained it is possible for a case to meet the state definition of bullying, even if the employee may not have been disciplined “for” bullying.
For example, Granite School District stated zero teachers were disciplined for bullying during the 2022-2023 or 2023-2024 school years, even though four cases “absolutely do meet the definition of bullying.”
"It’s just not what we labeled it,” said Doug Larson, general counsel for the district. “While teachers were disciplined for a variety of things, no findings were made of bullying.”
Larson stated the district does not discipline teachers for bullying because the state definition is “unacceptably broad” and is “so often distorted.”
Instead, teachers are disciplined for “improper conduct.”
“It was broad and vague,” said Granite Superintendent Ben Horsley. “When everything is defined as bullying, frankly nothing can be defined as bullying.”
Lawmakers respond
Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said he disagreed with Granite School District’s approach.
“It’s not appropriate,” McKell said. “If the law is poorly written? Let’s fix the law, but let’s not ignore the law.”
McKell said he was also troubled by other districts failing to report bullying data with consistency.
“I appreciate how a lot of the reporting you did looked at that,” McKell said.
In response, McKell sponsored Senate Bill 223. He also agreed the previous definition of bullying was too broad.
The new definition of bullying will encompass behavior with “intent to cause harm.”
Bullying could be a “single egregious act” or repeated “hostile” behavior.
The new definition also carves out exceptions for “ordinary” teasing, arguments, and horseplay.
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said he did not see a problem with the current definition of bullying.
Nevertheless, he voted in favor of a new definition.
“To me, that doesn’t sound overly broad,” Weiler said. “The Legislature gets to make the laws, and if someone disagrees with a law? They can lobby to have it changed. For them just to say we’re not going to follow the law just because we don’t like the law? That’s a non-starter for me.”
Weiler’s message is the same as McKell’s. He wants all school districts to follow all laws, even the ones they might disagree with.
Calls for transparency
Granite School District stated the new definition will change the way teachers are disciplined.
"This is a good example of collaboration between trying to be transparent, trying to make sure we’re following up, and responding to actual incidents of bullying,” Horsley said. “This will help clarify the reporting requirements for us and make things a little bit simpler for parents as well.”
William Schulz, a parent, said he would like to see more transparency from the district. He has filed multiple complaints against Granite employees accusing them of bullying his son.
In one case, Schulz described a teacher retaliating against his son for filing a misconduct report.
“He started bullying my son,” Schulz described. “He dropped the grade immediately from an A that he had, within 24 hours, to an F.”
Emails between Schulz and the district show the employee in question was not disciplined.
“Just wanted to let you know that this teacher has resigned as of last week," Horsley wrote in an email. "As such, our investigation was not completed as we do not have the legal authority to investigate a non-employee. He would not be eligible for rehire at this point. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a nice week."
Pending a signature from the governor, the new definition of bullying goes into effect on May 7, 2025.
