514 BULLYING PROHIBITION POLICY
I. PURPOSE
A safe and civil
environment is needed for students to learn and attain high academic standards
and to promote healthy human relationships.
Bullying, like other violent or disruptive behavior, is conduct that
interferes with a student’s ability to learn and/or a teacher’s
ability to educate students in a safe environment. The school district cannot monitor the
activities of students at all times and eliminate all incidents of bullying
between students, particularly when students are not under the direct
supervision of school personnel.
However, to the extent such conduct affects the educational environment
of the school district and the rights and welfare of its students and is within
the control of the school district in its normal operations, the school
district intends to prevent bullying and to take action to investigate, respond
to, and to remediate and discipline for those acts of bullying which have not
been successfully prevented. The purpose
of this policy is to assist the school district in its goal of preventing and
responding to acts of bullying, intimidation, violence, reprisal, retaliation, and
other similar disruptive and detrimental behavior.
II. GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
A. An act of bullying, by either an
individual student or a group of students, is expressly prohibited on school
premises, on school district property, at school functions or activities, or on
school transportation. This policy
applies not only to students who directly engage in an act of bullying but also
to students who, by their indirect behavior, condone or support another
student’s act of bullying. This policy
also applies to any student whose conduct at any time or in any place
constitutes bullying or other prohibited conduct that interferes with or
obstructs the mission or operations of the school district or the safety or
welfare of the student or other students, or materially and substantially
interferes with a student’s educational opportunities or performance or ability
to participate in school functions or activities or receive school benefits,
services, or privileges. This policy
also applies to an act of cyberbullying regardless of whether such act is committed
on or off school district property and/or with or without the use of school
district resources.
B. No teacher, administrator, volunteer,
contractor, or other employee of the school district shall permit, condone, or
tolerate bullying.
C. Apparent permission or consent by a
student being bullied does not lessen or negate the prohibitions contained in
this policy.
D. Retaliation against a victim, good faith
reporter, or a witness of bullying is prohibited.
E. False accusations or reports of
bullying against another student are prohibited.
F. A person who engages in an act of
bullying, reprisal, retaliation, or false reporting of bullying or permits,
condones, or tolerates bullying shall be subject to discipline or other
remedial responses for that act in accordance with the school district’s
policies and procedures, including the school district’s discipline policy (See
MSBA/MASA Model Policy 506). The school
district may take into account the following factors:
1. The developmental ages and maturity
levels of the parties involved;
2. The levels of harm, surrounding
circumstances, and nature of the behavior;
3. Past incidences or past or continuing
patterns of behavior;
4. The relationship between the parties
involved; and
5. The context in which the alleged
incidents occurred.
Consequences for
students who commit prohibited acts of bullying may range from remedial
responses or positive behavioral interventions up to and including suspension
and/or expulsion. The school
district shall employ research-based developmentally appropriate best practices
that include preventative and remedial measures and effective discipline for
deterring violations of this policy, apply throughout the school district, and
foster student, parent, and community participation.
Consequences for
employees who permit, condone, or tolerate bullying or engage in an act of
reprisal or intentional false reporting of bullying may result in disciplinary
action up to and including termination or discharge.
Consequences for
other individuals engaging in prohibited acts of bullying may include, but not
be limited to, exclusion from school district property and events.
G. The school district will act to
investigate all complaints of bullying reported to the school district and will
discipline or take appropriate action against any student, teacher,
administrator, volunteer, contractor, or other employee of the school district
who is found to have violated this policy.
III. DEFINITIONS
For purposes of
this policy, the definitions included in this section apply.
A. “Bullying” means intimidating,
threatening, abusive, or harming conduct that is objectively offensive and:
1. an
actual or perceived imbalance of power exists between the student engaging in
the prohibited conduct and the target of the prohibited conduct, and the
conduct is repeated or forms a pattern; or
2. materially
and substantially interferes with a student’s educational opportunities or
performance or ability to participate in school functions or activities or
receive school benefits, services, or privileges.
The term,
“bullying,” specifically includes cyberbullying as defined in this policy.
B. “Cyberbullying” means bullying using
technology or other electronic communication, including, but not limited to, a
transfer of a sign, signal, writing, image, sound, or data, including a post on
a social network Internet website or forum, transmitted through a computer,
cell phone, or other electronic device. The
term applies to prohibited conduct which occurs on school premises, on school
district property, at school functions or activities, on school transportation,
or on school computers, networks, forums, and mailing lists, or off school
premises to the extent that it substantially and materially disrupts student
learning or the school environment.
C. “Immediately” means as soon as possible
but in no event longer than 24 hours.
D. “Intimidating, threatening, abusive, or
harming conduct” means, but is not limited to, conduct that does the following:
1. Causes
physical harm to a student or a student’s property or causes a student to be in
reasonable fear of harm to person or property;
2. Under
Minnesota common law, violates a student’s reasonable expectation of privacy,
defames a student, or constitutes intentional infliction of emotional distress
against a student; or
3. Is directed at any student or students,
including those based on a person’s actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color,
creed, religion, national origin, immigration status, sex, marital status,
familial status, socioeconomic status, physical appearance, sexual orientation
including gender identity and expression, academic status related to student
performance, disability, or status with regard to public assistance, age, or
any additional characteristic defined in the Minnesota Human Rights Act
(MHRA). However, prohibited conduct need
not be based on any particular characteristic defined in this paragraph or the
MHRA.
E. “On school premises, on school district
property, at school functions or activities, or on school transportation” means
all school district buildings, school grounds, and school property or property
immediately adjacent to school grounds, school bus stops, school buses, school
vehicles, school contracted vehicles, or any other vehicles approved for school
district purposes, the area of entrance or departure from school grounds,
premises, or events, and all school-related functions, school-sponsored
activities, events, or trips. School
district property also may mean a student’s walking route to or from school for
purposes of attending school or school-related functions, activities, or
events. While prohibiting bullying at
these locations and events, the school district does not represent that it will
provide supervision or assume liability at these locations and events.
F. “Prohibited conduct” means bullying or
cyberbullying as defined in this policy or retaliation or reprisal for
asserting, alleging, reporting, or providing information about such conduct or
knowingly making a false report about bullying.
G. “Remedial response” means a measure to
stop and correct prohibited conduct, prevent prohibited conduct from recurring,
and protect, support, and intervene on behalf of a student who is the target or
victim of prohibited conduct.
H. “Student” means a student enrolled in a
public school or a charter school.
IV. REPORTING PROCEDURE
A. Any person who believes he or she has
been the target or victim of bullying or any person with knowledge or belief of
conduct that may constitute bullying or prohibited conduct under this policy shall
report the alleged acts immediately to an appropriate school district official
designated by this policy. A person may
report bullying anonymously. However,
the school district may not rely solely on an anonymous report to determine
discipline or other remedial responses.
B. The school district encourages the
reporting party or complainant to use the report form available from the
principal or building supervisor of each building or available in the school
district office, but oral reports shall be considered complaints as well.
C. The building principal, the principal’s
designee, or the building supervisor (hereinafter the “building report taker”) is
the person responsible for receiving reports of bullying or other prohibited
conduct at the building level. Any
person may report bullying or other prohibited conduct directly to a school
district human rights officer or the superintendent. If the complaint involves the building report
taker, the complaint shall be made or filed directly with the superintendent or
the school district human rights officer by the reporting party or complainant.
The building
report taker shall ensure that this policy and its procedures, practices,
consequences, and sanctions are fairly and fully implemented and shall serve as
the primary contact on policy and procedural matters. The building report taker or a third party
designated by the school district shall be responsible for the
investigation. The building report taker
shall provide information about available community resources to the target or
victim of the bullying or other prohibited conduct, the perpetrator, and other
affected individuals as appropriate.
D. A teacher, school administrator,
volunteer, contractor, or other school employee shall be particularly alert to
possible situations, circumstances, or events that might include bullying. Any such person who witnesses, observes, receives
a report of, or has other knowledge or belief of conduct that may constitute
bullying or other prohibited conduct shall make reasonable efforts to address
and resolve the bullying or prohibited conduct and shall inform the building report
taker immediately. School district
personnel who fail to inform the building report taker of conduct that may
constitute bullying or other prohibited conduct or who fail to make reasonable
efforts to address and resolve the bullying or prohibited conduct in a timely
manner may be subject to disciplinary action.
E. Reports of bullying or other prohibited
conduct are classified as private educational and/or personnel data and/or
confidential investigative data and will not be disclosed except as permitted
by law. The building
report taker, in conjunction with the responsible authority, shall be
responsible for keeping and regulating access to any report of bullying and the
record of any resulting investigation.
F. Submission of a good faith complaint or
report of bullying or other prohibited conduct will not affect the
complainant’s or reporter’s future employment, grades, work assignments, or
educational or work environment.
G. The school district will respect the
privacy of the complainant(s), the individual(s) against whom the complaint is
filed, and the witnesses as much as possible, consistent with the school
district’s obligation to investigate, take appropriate action, and comply with
any legal disclosure obligations.
V.
A. Within three days of the receipt of a
complaint or report of bullying or other prohibited conduct, the school
district shall undertake or authorize an investigation by the building report
taker or a third party designated by the school district.
B. The building report taker or other
appropriate school district officials may take immediate steps, at their discretion,
to protect the target or victim of the bullying or other prohibited conduct,
the complainant, the reporter, and students or others, pending completion of an
investigation of the bullying or other prohibited conduct, consistent with
applicable law.
C. The alleged perpetrator of the bullying
or other prohibited conduct shall be allowed the opportunity to present a
defense during the investigation or prior to the imposition of discipline or
other remedial responses.
D. Upon completion of an investigation that
determines that bullying or other prohibited conduct has occurred, the school
district will take appropriate action.
Such action may include, but is not limited to, warning, suspension,
exclusion, expulsion, transfer, remediation, termination, or discharge. Disciplinary consequences will be
sufficiently severe to try to deter violations and to appropriately discipline
prohibited conduct. Remedial responses
to the bullying or other prohibited conduct shall be tailored to the particular
incident and nature of the conduct and shall take into account the factors
specified in Section II.F. of this policy.
School district action taken for violation of this policy will be
consistent with the requirements of applicable collective bargaining
agreements; applicable statutory authority, including the Minnesota Pupil Fair
Dismissal Act; the student discipline policy (See MSBA/MASA Model Policy 506)
and other applicable school district policies; and applicable regulations.
E. The school district is not authorized
to disclose to a victim private educational or personnel data regarding an
alleged perpetrator who is a student or employee of the school district. School officials will notify the parent(s) or
guardian(s) of students who are targets of bullying or other prohibited conduct
and the parent(s) or guardian(s) of alleged perpetrators of bullying or other
prohibited conduct who have been involved in a reported and confirmed bullying
incident of the remedial or disciplinary action taken, to the extent permitted
by law.
F. In order to prevent or respond to
bullying or other prohibited conduct committed by or directed against a child
with a disability, the school district shall, when determined appropriate by
the child’s individualized education program (IEP) team or Section 504 team,
allow the child’s IEP or Section 504 plan to be drafted to address the skills
and proficiencies the child needs as a result of the child’s disability to
allow the child to respond to or not to engage in bullying or other prohibited
conduct.
VI. RETALIATION OR REPRISAL
The school
district will discipline or take appropriate action against any student,
teacher, administrator, volunteer, contractor, or other employee of the school
district who commits an act of reprisal or who retaliates against any person
who asserts, alleges, or makes a good faith report of alleged bullying or
prohibited conduct, who provides information about bullying or prohibited
conduct, who testifies, assists, or participates in an investigation of alleged
bullying or prohibited conduct, or who testifies, assists, or participates in a
proceeding or hearing relating to such bullying or prohibited conduct. Retaliation includes, but is not limited to,
any form of intimidation, reprisal, harassment, or intentional disparate
treatment. Disciplinary
consequences will be sufficiently severe to deter violations and to
appropriately discipline the individual(s) who engaged in the prohibited
conduct. Remedial responses to the
prohibited conduct shall be tailored to the particular incident and nature of
the conduct and shall take into account the factors specified in Section II.F.
of this policy.
VII. TRAINING AND EDUCATION
A. The school district shall discuss this
policy with school personnel and volunteers and provide appropriate training to
school district personnel regarding this policy. The school
district shall establish a training cycle for school personnel to occur during
a period not to exceed every three school years. Newly employed school personnel must receive
the training within the first year of their employment with the school
district. The school district or a school
administrator may accelerate the training cycle or provide additional training
based on a particular need or circumstance.
This policy shall be included in employee handbooks, training materials,
and publications on school rules, procedures, and standards of conduct, which
materials shall also be used to publicize this policy.
B. The school district shall require
ongoing professional development, consistent with Minn. Stat. § 122A.60, to
build the skills of all school personnel who regularly interact with students
to identify, prevent, and appropriately address bullying and other prohibited
conduct. Such professional development
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. Developmentally
appropriate strategies both to prevent and to immediately and effectively
intervene to stop prohibited conduct;
2. The
complex dynamics affecting a perpetrator, target, and witnesses to prohibited
conduct;
3. Research
on prohibited conduct, including specific categories of students at risk for
perpetrating or being the target or victim of bullying or other prohibited
conduct in school;
4. The
incidence and nature of cyberbullying; and
5. Internet
safety and cyberbullying.
C. The school district annually will
provide education and information to students regarding bullying, including
information regarding this school district policy prohibiting bullying, the
harmful effects of bullying, and other applicable initiatives to prevent bullying
and other prohibited conduct.
D. The administration of the school
district is directed to implement programs and other initiatives to prevent
bullying, to respond to bullying in a manner that does not stigmatize the target
or victim, and to make resources or referrals to resources available to targets
or victims of bullying.
E. The administration is encouraged to
provide developmentally appropriate instruction and is directed to review
programmatic instruction to determine if adjustments are necessary to help
students identify and prevent or reduce bullying and other prohibited conduct,
to value diversity in school and society, to develop and improve students’
knowledge and skills for solving problems, managing conflict, engaging in civil
discourse, and recognizing, responding to, and reporting bullying or other
prohibited conduct, and to make effective prevention and intervention programs
available to students.
The
administration must establish strategies for creating a positive school climate
and use evidence-based social-emotional learning to prevent and reduce
discrimination and other improper conduct.
The
administration is encouraged, to the extent practicable, to take such actions
as it may deem appropriate to accomplish the following:
1. Engage
all students in creating a safe and supportive school environment;
2. Partner
with parents and other community members to develop and implement prevention
and intervention programs;
3. Engage
all students and adults in integrating education, intervention, and other
remedial responses into the school environment;
4. Train
student bystanders to intervene in and report incidents of bullying and other
prohibited conduct to the schools’ primary contact person;
5. Teach
students to advocate for themselves and others;
6. Prevent
inappropriate referrals to special education of students who may engage in
bullying or other prohibited conduct; and
7. Foster
student collaborations that, in turn, foster a safe and supportive school
climate.
F. The school district may implement
violence prevention and character development education programs to prevent or reduce
policy violations. Such programs may
offer instruction on character education including, but not limited to,
character qualities such as attentiveness, truthfulness, respect for authority,
diligence, gratefulness, self-discipline, patience, forgiveness, respect for
others, peacemaking, and resourcefulness.
G. The school district shall inform
affected students and their parents of rights they may have under state and
federal data practices laws to obtain access to data related to an incident and
their right to contest the accuracy or completeness of the data. The school district may accomplish this
requirement by inclusion of all or applicable parts of its protection and
privacy of pupil records policy (See MSBA/MASA Model Policy 515) in the student
handbook.
VIII. NOTICE
A.
The
school district will give annual notice of this policy to students, parents or
guardians, and staff, and this policy shall appear in the student handbook.
B. This policy or a summary thereof must be
conspicuously posted in the administrative offices of the school district and
the office of each school.
C. This policy must be given to each school
employee and independent contractor who regularly interacts with students at
the time of initial employment with the school district.
D. Notice of the rights and
responsibilities of students and their parents under this policy must be
included in the student discipline policy (See MSBA/MASA Model Policy 506)
distributed to parents at the beginning of each school year.
E. This policy shall be available to all
parents and other school community members in an electronic format in the
language appearing on the school district’s or a school’s website.
F. The school district shall provide an
electronic copy of its most recently amended policy to the Commissioner of
Education.
IX. POLICY
REVIEW
To the extent
practicable, the school board shall, on a cycle consistent with other school
district policies, review and revise this policy. The policy shall be made consistent with
Minn. Stat. § 121A.031 and other applicable law. Revisions shall be made in consultation with
students, parents, and community organizations.