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S 2495School Safety

Education - Health and Safety of Pupils

Mandates the creation of a strict statewide anti-hazing policy with zero-tolerance penalties for student athletics.

Signed into law64 Yea1 Nay10 Not voting
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation mandates that the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Rhode Island Interscholastic League collaboratively create a statewide anti-hazing policy for student athletics. The policy must define hazing, establish a "zero tolerance" standard, and outline specific penalties, such as suspending individual athletes or canceling a team's entire season. The bill explicitly states that a victim's consent to the activity is not a valid defense. Furthermore, all student-athletes must sign a document acknowledging they understand the rules and potential consequences before they can participate in team activities.

For younger readers

This new law helps keep school sports teams safe. It tells the people in charge of schools to make strict rules against hazing. Hazing is when a group makes a person do something embarrassing, mean, or dangerous just to be part of the team. The law says this is never okay, even if the person says they don't mind doing it. If players break these rules, they might get suspended, or the whole team could be stopped from playing for the season. Every player must sign a paper promising to follow these safety rules.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Student-athletesSchool administratorsCoaches and athletic staffParents of student-athletesRhode Island Interscholastic League
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

The mandate for "zero tolerance" policies may raise Due Process concerns regarding a student's property interest in public education participation if not accompanied by adequate hearing procedures. Additionally, if the definition of hazing is interpreted too broadly regarding speech (e.g., "humiliating" speech without physical conduct), it could potentially face First Amendment challenges, though courts generally uphold hazing regulations as conduct-based safety measures.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Protects vulnerable students from abuse, humiliation, and danger within athletic programs, fostering a safer and more inclusive school climate for all children.
  • Ensures that discipline for hazing is transparent and consistently applied across the state, reducing the likelihood of preferential treatment for star athletes or wealthy districts.
  • Mandates education and prevention components that connect with broader anti-bullying and anti-hate initiatives, promoting long-term cultural change rather than just punishment.
  • Mandates "zero tolerance" policies, which historically have disproportionately impacted students of color and students with disabilities, often feeding the school-to-prison pipeline.
  • Allows for collective punishment, such as canceling a team’s season, which unfairly penalizes innocent students who did not participate in the misconduct.
  • Delegates significant policy-making authority to the Interscholastic League, a non-governmental entity, which may lack the public accountability necessary for protecting student rights.
For Conservatives
  • Enforces strict accountability and discipline for misconduct, upholding law and order within school institutions and sports programs.
  • Requires students to sign a written acknowledgement of the rules, reinforcing personal responsibility and the binding nature of agreements.
  • Protects the physical safety of students, ensuring that taxpayer-funded athletic programs operate without devolving into dangerous or chaotic environments.
  • Imposes a top-down state mandate on local schools, stripping them of local control to manage their own athletic programs and disciplinary measures as they see fit.
  • Links the policy to "anti-hate initiatives," which could be viewed as a gateway for introducing ideological social programming into sports under the guise of safety.
  • Establishes a "zero tolerance" standard that removes discretion from coaches and administrators, potentially punishing minor infractions too harshly without adequate due process.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 30 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 16-21 of the General Laws entitled "Health and Safety of Pupils" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 16-21-44. Policy on addressing and prohibiting hazing in student athletics.

(a) The department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”), in conjunction with the Rhode Island interscholastic league (the “interscholastic league”), shall establish an anti-hazing policy (hereinafter “policy”) to address acts of hazing in student athletics. The guiding principle behind this policy is that hazing, bullying and harassment have no place in any school environment. This policy shall incorporate best practices as determined by the department and the interscholastic league. This policy shall also establish zero tolerance for hazing and ensure discipline for hazing incidents is transparent and consistently applied across the state.

(b) This policy shall include the following:

(1) Definitions and illustrations of hazing;

(2) Sanctions and penalties to be imposed on students and student-athletes who engage in hazing incidents, which penalties may include, but are not limited to, suspension from a team, the periods of such suspension, and where appropriate, team-level consequences, which may include the cancelation of a team’s season;

(3) The recognition that consent by a person being subjected to an act of hazing is not a defense under this section;

(4) Education and prevention components that incorporate the opportunity to connect with any emerging statewide efforts around school climate, anti-bullying, and anti-hate initiatives in Rhode Island schools; and

(5) A requirement that each student-athlete subject to this policy shall, prior to attending any team practices, meetings, games, or other functions, sign an acknowledgement and recognition that a violation of the policy may result in the imposition of penalties and sanctions. This document may be a separate acknowledgement or combined with other documents student-athletes are required to sign as a condition of participation.

(d) The department and the league shall use best practices to establish a comprehensive definition for hazing. By way of guidance, and not as a limitation, the definition of hazing should include as an element, the imposition or activity of humiliating, degrading, abusing, or endangering a person, often in the context of a group setting.

(e) Every school and school district participating within the Rhode Island interscholastic league shall be subject to the provisions of this section and the anti-hazing policy.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.