Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C-Ballston Lake), the Ranking Member of the New York State Senate Education Committee, today is calling for passage of his bi-partisan “Jacobe’s Law” legislation to ensure schools notify parents when their children are bullied.

This comes in the wake of a bombshell startling new report by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli that shows bullying at schools is on the rise and “even exceeding pre-pandemic highs.”

According to the Comptroller’s Report, in the 2023-24 school year (the most recent data available), bullying made up 61.8 percent of all incidents reported to the State Education Department (a total of 29,718 incidents).  In 2017-18, the bullying rates reported were 10.2 incidents per 1,000 students statewide, which was the pre-pandemic high.  That’s now skyrocketed to a new high of 18.2 incidents per 1,000 students.

The state’s Dignity for All Students Act, which was passed in 2012, requires school districts to report incidents of bullying to the state Education Department. However, it doesn’t mandate or require schools to do the same notification for the parents when their child has been bullied or is believed to be the perpetrator of bullying. This gap in state law has become fatal. 

In April 2015, 13-year-old Jacobe Taras of Moreau tragically took his own life as a result of bullying. Jacobe’s parents, Christine and Richard Taras, were not notified by Jacobe’s school of the extent of bullying he faced. 

Senator Tedisco’s bill, “Jacobe’s Law,” named in Jacobe Taras’s memory, requires that school employees charged with receiving reports of harassment, bullying or discrimination contact the parents or guardians of the students involved – both the bullies and the victims -- in an incident of bullying or harassment (Senate bill S.16). 

“Jacobe’s Law” is a non-partisan bill, with several Democratic sponsors and twice passed the Senate. Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh is sponsoring the bill in the Assembly. 

“It’s heartbreaking that any child would face anguish attending school each day due to bullying. I thank the Comptroller for bringing this startling new report about a surge in school bullying to light. We ask a lot of parents right now as it relates to being involved in their children’s education. Shouldn’t parents be made aware of threats of violence to their children so they can take the action they deem appropriate and have input on decisions of how best to protect their children’s safety? Unfortunately, due to a loophole in state law, many parents are not being kept informed about incidents of bullying taking place in the institutions we trust to educate and look after the safety and well-being of our children each day,” said Senator Jim Tedisco, a former special education teacher.

“There are few issues of concern in the legislature which garner almost total unanimity of support. But every time I’ve asked groups of parents or legislators to raise their hands if they would not want to know if their child has been bullied or bullying other children -- not one hand has ever been raised!” said Senator Jim Tedisco.