Recommendations from a task force on bullying are getting support from Gov. Mark Dayton, who approves of strengthening the requirements on schools.
He also said he wants to find ways to fund the recommendations, which call for school districts to train school personnel and ban bullying, harassment and intimidation.
The task force, which met Monday, is looking for ways to improve the current law, which requires schools to have a bullying policy but doesn’t say what it should include.
Dayton said cuts in funding to schools have exacerbated the problem in some ways.
MPR reports that Dayton said the funding cuts have “… forced school districts unwillingly, but they’ve had no choice, to cut back on things like guidance counselors and social workers and support for just these kinds of situations. We’ve got to make sure we’re serious about this.”
The Bullying Prevention Task Force has met through the summer and conducted listening sessions around the state, with the hope that the Legislature will put its recommendations into state law.
