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(b) Each local district and school policy must establish research-based, developmentally appropriate best practices that include preventive and remedial measures and effective discipline for deterring policy violations; apply throughout the school or district; and foster active student, parent, and community participation. A district or school may request assistance from the school safety technical assistance center under section 127A.052 in complying with local policy requirements. The policy shall:

(c) Consistent with its applicable policies and practices, Each district and school under this subdivision must discuss its policy with students, school personnel, and volunteers and provide appropriate training for all school personnel to prevent, identify, and respond to prohibited conduct. Districts and schools must establish a training cycle, not to exceed a period of three school years, for school personnel under this paragraph. Newly employed school personnel must receive the training within the first year of their employment with the district or school. A district or school administrator may accelerate the training cycle or provide additional training based on a particular need or circumstance.

(d) Each district and school under this subdivision must submit an electronic copy of its prohibited conduct policy to the commissioner.

Subd. 4. Local policy components. (a) Each district and school policy implemented under this section must, at a minimum:

(1) designate a staff member as the primary contact person in the school building to receive reports of prohibited conduct under clause (3), ensure the policy and its procedures including restorative practices, consequences, and sanctions are fairly and fully implemented, and serve as the primary contact on policy and procedural matters implicating both the district or school and the department;

(2) require school employees who witness prohibited conduct or possess reliable information that would lead a reasonable person to suspect that a student is a target of prohibited conduct to make reasonable efforts to address and resolve the prohibited conduct;

(3) provide a procedure to begin to investigate reports of prohibited conduct within three school days of the report, and make the primary contact person responsible for the investigation and any resulting record and for keeping and regulating access to any record;

(4) indicate how a school will respond to an identified incident of prohibited conduct, including immediately intervening to protect the target of the prohibited conduct; at the school administrator’s discretion and consistent with state and federal data practices law governing access to data, including section 13.02, subdivision 8, a presumption that a district or school official will notify the parent of the reported target of the prohibited conduct and the parent of the actor engaged in the prohibited conduct; providing other remedial responses to the prohibited conduct; and ensuring that remedial responses are tailored to the particular incident and nature of the conduct and the student’s developmental age and behavioral history;

(5) prohibit reprisals or retaliation against any person who asserts, alleges, or reports prohibited conduct or provides information about such conduct and establish appropriate consequences for a person who engages in reprisal or retaliation;

(6) allow anonymous reporting but do not rely solely on an anonymous report to determine discipline;

(7) provide information about available community resources to the target, actor, and other affected individuals, as appropriate;

(8) where appropriate for a child with a disability to prevent or respond to prohibited conduct, allow the child’s individualized education program or section 504 plan to address the skills and proficiencies the child needs to respond to or not engage in prohibited conduct;

(9) use new employee training materials, the school publication on school rules, procedures, and Standard of conduct, and the student handbook on school policies to publicize the policy;

(10) require ongoing professional development, consistent with section 122A.60, to build the skills of all school personnel who regularly interact with students, including, but not limited to, educators, administrators, school counselors, social workers, psychologists, other school mental health professionals, school nurses, cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, athletic coaches, extracurricular activities advisors, and paraprofessionals to identify, prevent, and appropriately address prohibited conduct;

(11) allow the alleged actor in an investigation of prohibited conduct to present a defense; and

(12) inform affected students and their parents of their rights under state and federal data practices laws to obtain access to data related to the incident and their right to contest the accuracy or completeness of the data.

(b) Professional development under a local policy includes, but is not limited to, information about:

(1) developmentally appropriate strategies both to prevent and to immediately and effectively intervene to stop prohibited conduct;

(2) the complex dynamics affecting an actor, target, and witnesses to prohibited conduct;

(3) research on prohibited conduct, including specific categories of students at risk for prohibited conduct in school;

(4) the incidence and nature of cyberbullying; and

(5) Internet safety and cyberbullying.

Model policy addresses professional development on bullying prevention, intervention, and response.