7.13 Bullying and Harassment
1. It is the policy of Leon County Schools (LCS) that all
of its students and school employees have an educational setting that is safe,
secure, and free from harassment and bullying of any kind. LCS will not
tolerate bullying and harassment of any type. Conduct that constitutes bullying
and harassment, as defined herein, is prohibited.
2. Definitions
a. Bullying means
systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological
distress on one or more students or employees. It is further defined as
unwanted and repeated written, verbal,
or physical behavior, including any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing
gesture, by an adult or student, that is severe or pervasive enough to create
an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause
discomfort or humiliation; or unreasonably interfere with the individual’s
school performance or participation; and may involve but is not limited to:
i)
Teasing
ii) Social Exclusion
iii) Threat
iv) Intimidation
v) Stalking
vi) Physical violence
vii) Theft
viii) Sexual, religious, or racial harassment
ix) Public humiliation
x) Destruction of property
b. Harassment means
any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, use of data,
telecommunications facilities (e.g., wireless phone, text messages), or
computer software or technology (e.g., email, social networking sites, blogs,
web pages), or written, verbal or physical conduct directed against a student
or school employee that:
i)
Places a student
or school employee in reasonable fear of harm to his or her person or damage to
his or her property;
ii) Has the effect of substantially interfering with a
student’s educational performance, opportunities, or benefits; or
iii) Has the effect of substantially disrupting the orderly
operation of a school.
c. Bullying and
harassment also encompass:
i)
Retaliation
against a student or school employee by another student or school employee for
asserting or alleging an act of bullying or harassment. Reporting an act of
bullying or harassment that is not made in good faith is considered retaliation.
ii) Perpetuation of conduct listed in the definition of
bullying or harassment by an individual or group with intent to demean,
dehumanize, embarrass, or cause emotional or physical harm to a student or
school employee by:
(1) Incitement or coercion;
(2) Accessing or knowingly and willingly causing or
providing access to data or computer software through a computer, computer
system, or computer network within the scope of the district school system; or
(3) Acting in a manner that has an effect substantially
similar to the effect of bullying or harassment.
d. Cyberstalking as
defined in s. 784.048(1)(d), F.S., means to engage in a course of conduct to communicate, or to cause to be
communicated, words, images, or language by or through the use of electronic
mail or electronic communication, directed at a specific person, causing
substantial emotional distress to that person and serving no legitimate
purpose.
e. "Bullying," "Cyberstalking" and
"Harassment," (hereinafter referred to as bullying, as defined in Section (2). a., for
the purpose of this Policy) also encompass, but are not limited to, unwanted
harm towards a student or employee in regard to their real or perceived: sex,
race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability (physical, mental, or
educational), marital status, socio-economic background, ancestry, ethnicity,
gender, gender identity or expression, linguistic preference, political
beliefs, sexual orientation, or social/family background or being viewed as
different in its education programs or admissions to education programs and
therefore prohibits bullying of any student or employee by any Board
member, District employee, consultant,
contractor, agent, visitor, volunteer, student, or other person in the school
or outside the school at school-sponsored events, on school buses, and at
training facilities or training programs sponsored by the District.
3. Expectations
of Students and Employees
a. LCS expects students to conduct themselves as
appropriate for their level of development, maturity, and demonstrated
capabilities with a proper regard for the rights and welfare of other students
and school staff, the educational purpose underlying all school activities, and
the care of school facilities and equipment.
b. LCS believes that standards for student behavior must
be set cooperatively through interaction among the students, parents/legal
guardians, staff, and community members producing an atmosphere that encourages
students to grow in self-discipline. The development of this atmosphere
requires respect for self and others, as well as for district and community
property on the part of students, staff, and community members. Since students
learn by example, school administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers will
demonstrate appropriate behavior, treat others with civility and respect, and
refuse to tolerate harassment or bullying.
c. Bullying of any student or school employee is
prohibited:
i)
During any
education program or activity conducted by a public K-12 educational institution;
ii) During or related to any school-related or
school-sponsored program or activity;
iii) On a school bus of a public K-12 educational
institution;
iv) Through the use of data or computer software that is
accessed through a computer, a computer system, or computer network of a public
K-12 education institution; or
v) By the use of any telecommunications facilities (e.g.,
wireless phone, text messages) or computer software or technology (e.g., email,
social networking sites, blogs, web pages) and directed to a student or
employee of the district when there is a reasonable nexus between the activity
and a school, the school district or any school related activity.
4. Consequences for students or employees who commit an
act of bullying or harassment
a. Concluding whether a particular action or incident
constitutes a violation of this policy requires a determination based on all of
the facts and surrounding circumstances. The physical location or time of
access of a telecommunications-based or computer-related incident cannot be
raised as a defense in any disciplinary action if there is a reasonable nexus
between the activity and a school, the school district or any school related
activity. The fact that two persons know
each other from school, by itself, does not create a sufficient nexus when the
bullying activity occurs off campus.
b. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for students
who commit acts of bullying or harassment will be determined in accordance with
Policy 7.08, Student Discipline.
c. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for a
school employee found to have committed an act of bullying or harassment will
be determined in accordance with Policy 1.30, Principles of Conduct for Leon
County Schools Personnel, Procedure B-8, Employee Conduct, and the “Employee
Discipline” section of their respective collective bargaining agreement.
Additionally, egregious acts of harassment by certified educators may result in
a sanction against an educator’s state issued certificate. (
d. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for a
visitor or volunteer, found to have committed an act of bullying or harassment
shall be determined by the school administrator after consideration of the
nature and circumstances of the act, including reports to appropriate law
enforcement officials.
5. Consequences for a student or employee who is found
to have wrongfully and intentionally
accused another of an act of bullying or harassment
a. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for a
student found to have wrongfully and intentionally accused another of bullying
or harassment will be determined in accordance with Policy 7.08, Student
Discipline.
b. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for a
school employee found to have wrongfully and intentionally accused another of
bullying or harassment will be determined in accordance with Policy 1.30,
Principles of Conduct for Leon County Schools Personnel, Procedure B-8,
Employee Conduct, and the “Employee Discipline” section of their respective
collective bargaining agreement.
c. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for a
visitor or volunteer, found to have wrongfully and intentionally accused
another of bullying or harassment shall be determined by the school
administrator after consideration of the nature and circumstances of the act,
including reports to appropriate law enforcement officials.
6. Procedures for reporting an act of
bullying or harassment
a. At each school, the principal or the principal’s
designee is responsible for receiving complaints alleging violations of this
policy. All school employees are required to report alleged violations of this
policy to the principal or the principal’s designee. All other members of the
school community, including students, parents/legal guardians, volunteers, and
visitors are encouraged to report any act that may be a violation of this
policy anonymously or in-person to the principal or principal’s designee.
b. The principal of each school in the district shall
establish and prominently publicize to students, staff, volunteers, and
parents/legal guardians, how a report of bullying may be filed either in-person
or anonymously and how this report will be acted upon. The victim of bullying,
anyone who witnessed the bullying, and anyone who has credible information that
an act of bullying has taken place may file a report of bullying.
c. A school employee, school volunteer, student,
parent/legal guardian or other persons who promptly reports in good faith an
act of bullying or harassment to the appropriate school official and who makes
this report in compliance with the procedures set forth in the district policy
is immune from a cause of action for damages arising out of the reporting
itself or any failure to remedy the reported incident. Submission of a good
faith complaint or report of bullying or harassment will not affect the
complainant or reporter’s future employment, grades, learning or working environment,
or work assignments. Written and oral reports shall be considered official
reports. Reports may be made anonymously, but formal disciplinary action may
not be based solely on the basis of an anonymous report.
7. Procedure for the prompt investigation of a report
of bullying or harassment and the persons responsible for the investigation
a. The investigation of a reported act of bullying or harassment
is deemed to be a school-related activity and begins with a report of such an
act. The procedures for investigating
bullying and/or harassment include:
i)
The principal or
designee, shall be trained in investigative procedures and will initiate the
investigation, so long as they are not the accused perpetrator (harasser or
bully) or victim.
ii) Documented interviews of the victim, alleged
perpetrator, and witnesses are conducted privately, separately, and are
confidential. Each individual (victim, alleged perpetrator, and witnesses) will
be interviewed separately and at no time will the alleged perpetrator and
victim be interviewed together.
iii) The investigator shall collect and evaluate the facts
including, but not limited to:
(1) Description of incident including nature of the
behavior; context in which the alleged incident occurred, etc.;
(2) How often the conduct occurred;
(3) Whether there were past incidents or past continuing
patterns of behavior;
(4) The relationship between the parties involved;
(5) The characteristics of parties involved (e.g., grade,
age, etc.);
(6) The identity of the perpetrator, including whether the
perpetrator was in a position of power over the student allegedly subjected to
bullying or harassment;
(7) The number of alleged bullies/harassers;
(8) The age(s) of the alleged bullies/harassers;
(9) Where the bullying and/or harassment occurred; and
(10)
Whether the
conduct adversely affected the student’s education or educational environment.
b. Whether a particular action or incident constitutes a
violation of this policy requires a determination based on all the facts and
surrounding circumstances and includes:
i)
Recommended
remedial steps necessary to stop the bullying and/or harassing behavior
ii) A written final report to the principal
c. The maximum of 10 school days shall be the limit for
the initial filing of incidents and completion of the investigative procedural
steps. The highest level of confidentiality possible will be upheld regarding
the submission of a complaint or a report of bullying and/or harassment, and
the investigative procedures that follow.
8. Referral of
an act of bullying or harassment to the appropriate jurisdiction
If it is determined that this incident is outside the scope
of district, and may be a criminal act, refer the matter to the appropriate law
enforcement agency.
9. Immediate notification to the parents/legal
guardians of the victim or perpetrator
a. The principal, or designee, shall report the occurrence of any incident of
bullying as defined by this policy to the parent or legal guardian of all
students involved within . Notification must be consistent with the
student privacy rights under the applicable provisions of the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).
b. Once the investigation has been completed and criminal
charges may be pursued against the perpetrator all appropriate local law
enforcement agencies will be notified by telephone and/or in writing.
10. Referral of victims
and perpetrators for counseling
a. The teacher or parent/legal guardian may request
informal consultation with school staff (specialty staff, e.g., school
counselor, school psychologist, etc.) to determine the severity of concern and
appropriate steps to address the concern (the involved students’ parents or
legal guardian may be included).
b. Professional assistance or services may be provided that
includes:
i)
Referring a student
to the school intervention assistance team (or equivalent school-based team
with a problem-solving focus) for consideration of appropriate services.
(Parent or legal guardian involvement is required at this point.)
ii) If a formal discipline report or formal complaint is
made, the principal or designee must refer the student(s) to the school
intervention assistance team for determination of counseling support and
interventions. (Parent or legal guardian involvement is required at this
point.)
c. A school-based component to address intervention and
assistance as determined appropriate by the intervention team that includes:
i)
Counseling and
support to address the needs of the victims of bullying or harassment
ii) Interventions to address the behavior of the students
who bully and harass others (e.g., empathy training, anger management)
iii) Intervention which includes assistance and support
provided to parents/legal guardians, if deemed necessary or appropriate
11. Incidents of
bullying or harassment in the school’s data
a. As required under s. 1006.09(6), the school report of
data concerning school safety and discipline
will include each incident of bullying or harassment and the resulting
consequences, including discipline and referrals. The report must include, in a
separate section, each reported incident of bullying or harassment that does
not meet the criteria of a prohibited act under this section with recommendations
regarding such incidents.
b. LCS will utilize Florida’s School Environmental Safety
Incident Reporting (SESIR) Statewide Report on School Safety and Discipline
Data, which includes bullying /harassment
as an incident code as well as bullying-related
as a related element code. The SESIR definition of
bullying/harassment is “unwanted and repeated written, verbal, or physical
behavior, including any threatening, insulting or dehumanizing gesture, by an adult
or student that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating,
hostile or offensive educational environment, cause discomfort or humiliation,
or unreasonably interfere with the individual’s school performance or
participation.”
c. If a bullying and/or harassment incident occurs then
it will be reported in SESIR with the bullying/harassment
code. If the bullying/harassment results in any of the following SESIR incidents
the incident will be coded appropriately using the relevant incident code AND
the related element code entitled bullying-related
code. Those incidents are:
i)
Arson
ii)
iii) Breaking and Entering
iv) Disruption on Campus
v) Major Fighting
vi) Homicide
vii) Kidnapping
viii) Larceny/Theft
ix) Robbery
x) Sexual
xi) Sexual Harassment
xii) Sexual Offenses
xiii) Threat/Intimidation
xiv) Vandalism
xv) Weapons Possession
xvi) Other incidents that do not fit within the other
definitions
d. Discipline and referral data will be recorded in
Student Discipline/Referral Action Report and Automated Student Information
System.
e. The district will provide bullying incident,
discipline, and referral data to the Florida Department of Education in the
format requested, through Survey 5 from Education Information and
Accountability Services, and at designated dates provided by the Department.
12. Providing instruction to students, parents/legal guardians,
teachers, school administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers on
identifying, preventing, and responding to bullying or harassment
a. LCS ensures that schools sustain healthy, positive,
and safe learning environments for all students. It is important to change the
social climate of the school and the social norms with regards to bullying.
This requires the efforts of everyone in the school environment – teachers,
administrators, counselors, school nurses other non-teaching staff (such as bus
drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and/or school librarians),
parents/legal guardians, and students.
b. Students, parents/legal guardians, teachers, school
administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers shall be given instruction
at a minimum on an annual basis on the bullying and harassment policy. The
instruction shall include evidence-based methods of preventing bullying and
harassment, as well as how to effectively identify and respond to bullying in
schools.
13. Regularly reporting to a victim’s parents/legal
guardians the actions taken to protect the victim
a. The principal or designee shall by telephone and/or in
writing report the occurrence of any incident of bullying as defined by this
policy to the parent or legal guardian of all students involved on the same day
an investigation of the incident has been initiated. According to the level of
infraction, parents/legal guardians will be notified by telephone and/or
writing of actions being taken to protect the child; the frequency of
notification will depend on the seriousness of the bullying or harassment
incident. Notification must be consistent with the student privacy rights under
the applicable provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of
1974 (FERPA).
14. Publicizing this policy
a. This policy will be included in the code of student
conduct required under s. 1006.07(2) and in all employee handbooks.
b. At the beginning of each school year, the
Superintendent or designee shall, in writing, inform school staff,
parents/legal guardians, or other persons responsible for the welfare of a
student regarding this policy.
c. Each school shall provide notice to students and staff
through appropriate references in the student code of conduct and employee
handbooks, and/or through other reasonable means.
d. The Superintendent shall also make all contractors contracting
with the district aware of this policy.
e. Each school principal shall develop an annual process
for discussing the school district policy on bullying and harassment with
students in a student assembly or other reasonable format. Reminders of the
policy and bullying prevention messages such as posters and signs will be
displayed around each school and on the district school buses.
15. Nothing in this section shall
be construed to abridge the rights of students or school employees that are
protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the
Statutory authority: Section
1001.41, F.S.
Law implemented: Sections
Date adopted/amended: November
18, 2008
Notify parents within 48 hours of becoming aware of the incident