Public Policy/Legislation

A Guide to Identifying and Reporting Child Abuse in the Schools

Rhode Island Board of Regents for Primary and Secondary Education, 2011 The Rhode Island statute requires all suspected child abuse/neglect to be immediately reported. Schools tend to be a place where abuse/neglect can be detected. A sample reporting procedure is...

Right to a safe school [Section 16-2-17]

This legislation proposes that each student, staff member, teacher, and administrator has a right to attend and/or work at a school which is safe and secure, conducive to learning, and free from the threat, actual or implied, of physical harm by a disruptive student.

Lindsay Anne Burke Act

This legislation requires that Rhode Island school districts enact policies around dating violence, including reporting of dating violence, education around dating violence and efforts to prevent dating violence.

Health and Family Life Courses [Section 16-22-18]

This legislation states that secondary schools that teach sex education shall include abstinence as the preferred method of pregnancy prevention and that parents may exempt their children from taking this course.

Smoking in Schools [Section 23-20.9]

This health legislation looks to eliminate the exposure of children in schools and those who work in schools to tobacco smoke and to create a tobacco-free school environment in Rhode Island.