Transcript Harassment, Intimidation, & Bullying (HIB) Reporting and

Michael B. Greene, Ph.D.
Principal
Greene Consulting
[email protected]
NJ’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act
NJ Department of Education 2011 Model
Policy/Guidance
NJ’s Law Against Discrimination
Memoranda of Agreement
NJ Department of Education Regulations
NJ Department of Education Administrative Code
Relevant Federal Regulations & Guidance
The Nature and Content of Required Policies
Training Requirements
Prevention and Intervention Programs
Additional Requirements of the Anti-bullying Law
Any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any
electronic communication, whether it be a single incident
or a series of incidents, that is:
1.reasonably perceived as being motivated either by any
actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color,
religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual
orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental,
physical or sensory handicap or disability, or by any other
distinguishing characteristic,
2.that takes place on school property, at any schoolsponsored function or on a school bus,
and that:
Physically or emotionally harming a student or damaging the
student's property, or
Placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm
to his person or damage to his property; or
Has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of
students in such a way as to cause substantial disruption in, or
substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school;
or
Creates a hostile educational environment at school for the
student by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or
pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student, or
Occurs off school grounds, in cases in which a
school employee is made aware of such actions
and such actions create a hostile environment at
school for the student, infringe on the rights of
the student at school, or disrupt the education
process or orderly operation of a school that
substantially disrupts or interferes with the
orderly operation of the school or the rights of
other students.
Discriminatory conduct that would not have
occurred “but for” the student’s protected
characteristic, that a reasonable student of the
same age, maturity level, and protected
characteristic would consider sufficiently severe or
pervasive enough to create an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive school environment that the
school district failed to reasonably address.
Race, creed, color, national origin, nationality,
ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy),
affectional or sexual orientation, atypical
hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic
information, and mental or physical disability,
perceived disability, and AIDS and HIV status.
Any school employee, member of the board of education,
volunteer, or contracted serviced provider who witnesses or
has received reliable information of an HIB incident must
verbally report the incident or alleged incident to the school
principal on the same day in which the employee or
contracted provider witnesses or has reliable information of
such an incident.
Such verbally reported incidents must be reported in
writing to the school principal within two school days of
when such incidents are witnessed or from which time the
individual has secured reliable information that such an
incident occurred.
An act of HIB may be reported verbally,
in writing, or anonymously by a
student, parent, or visitor; however,
anonymous reports shall not in and of
themselves be considered to permit
formal disciplinary action.
The district should consider every
mechanism available to simplify reporting,
including standard reporting forms and
Web-based reporting mechanisms. For
anonymous reporting, schools should
consider locked boxes located in areas of the
school where reports can be submitted
without fear of being observed.
The school/district must conduct a fair, thorough, and
impartial investigation of the alleged incidents led by
the anti-bullying specialist:
Review all relevant documents and interview
individuals, including the individual making the
allegations, key involved district staff, key witnesses,
the alleged perpetrator, and the alleged victim(s), and
collect and secure all other information as necessary,
to:
• Clarify allegations or concerns;
• Identify parent and school actions taken; and
•Identify both the preferred and acceptable remedies or
outcomes
Identify and evaluate the kinds of present
and future damage that may have been
caused by the harassment, including harm
to the victim, the harasser, and the school
environment; and consider all of the other
factors necessary for a complete corrective
action.
The investigation should also determine
whether there are other related incidents of
harassment;
Two times each school year at a public hearing, the
superintendent of schools shall report to the board of
education all acts of violence, vandalism, and harassment,
intimidation, or bullying which occurred during the
previous reporting period.
The report shall include the number of reports of HIB, the
status of all investigations, the nature of the bullying based
on one of the protected categories, the names of the
investigators, the type and nature of any discipline imposed
on any student engaged in HIB, and any other measures
imposed, training conducted, or programs implemented, to
reduce harassment, intimidation, or bullying.
The information shall also be reported once during
each reporting period to the Department of Education.
The report must include data broken down by the
enumerated categories, and data broken down by each
school in the district, in addition to district-wide data.
This report shall be used to grade each school for
the purpose of assessing its effort to implement
policies and programs.
• The investigation shall be completed as soon as
possible, but not later than 10 school days from
the date of the written report of the incident of
harassment, intimidation, or bullying.
• The results of the investigation shall be reported
to the superintendent of schools within two
school days of the completion of the
investigation.
Parents or guardians of the students who are parties to the
investigation shall be entitled to receive information about the
investigation including the nature of the investigation, whether
the district found evidence of HIB , or whether discipline was
imposed or services provided to address the incident of
harassment, intimidation, or bullying. This information shall be
provided in writing within 5 school days after the results of the
investigation are reported to the board.
A parent or guardian may request a hearing (in Executive
Session) before the board after receiving the information, and the
hearing shall be held within 10 days of the request. At the hearing
the board may hear from the school anti-bullying specialist about
the incident, recommendations for discipline or services, and any
programs instituted to reduce such incidents.
At the next board of education meeting following its receipt
of the report, the board shall issue a decision, in writing, to
affirm, reject, or modify the superintendent’s decision. The
board’s decision may be appealed to the Commissioner of
Education no later than the 90 days after the issuance of the
board’s decision; and a parent, student, guardian, or
organization may file a complaint with the Division on Civil
Rights within 180 days of the occurrence of any incident of
harassment, intimidation, or bullying based on
membership in a protected group as enumerated in the
“Law Against Discrimination.”
The district board of education requires its
school administrators to implement
procedures that ensure both the appropriate
consequences and remedial response for
students who commit one or more acts of
HIB.
The consequences and remedial responses should must be
reasonably calculated to end the HIB behavior and take
into consideration:
The unique circumstances of the acts and the persons
involved, as well as the unique conditions in and
characteristics of each school district. Such consequences
shall be varied and graded and based upon meaningful
consideration of the nature of the behavior, the
developmental age of the student, and the student’s history
of problem behaviors and performance. Possible individual
consequences to the perpetrator(s) can range from simple
admonishment to expulsion.
The school climate/culture and the individual and
institutional factors that contribute to a school
climate/culture that overtly or inadvertently facilitate
HIB should always be considered in specifying
consequences and remedial actions.
Consequences and appropriate remedial action should
be imposed upon an individual for found to have
falsely accused another as a means of retaliation or as a
means of HIB . This includes students, school
employees, visitors, and volunteers. Consideration
should be given to the totality of the circumstances
surrounding individuals who falsely accuse others as a
means of HIB.
Responses to retaliatory actions or behaviors
by school employees, contracted service
providers, volunteers, or students must
include consequences and appropriate
remedial action(s).
Responses and remedial measures should provide support
and protection for the victim. At a minimum, the school’s
responsibilities include making sure that the harassed
students and their families know how to report any
subsequent problems, conducting follow-up inquiries to see
if there have been any new incidents or any instances of
retaliation, and responding promptly and appropriately to
address continuing or new problems.
Ongoing remedial actions should be provided for the victim
intended to prevent recurrence, such as increasing adult
supervision of an activity in which incidents have occurred
and close monitoring of the victim’s security and
“emotional and psychological support (counseling) as
needed by the harassment victim.
Maintain a file to retain relevant
documentation (e.g., intake record, notes
from phone calls, conversations or
interviews, letters, emails, faxes, newspaper
articles, documentation from the district).
Written records and the use of standardized
forms are critically important.
The school district is encouraged to establish record keeping
policies and procedures that
• create a defensible record which demonstrates the
district’s efforts to remediate and reduce incidents of HIB,
and
•facilitate the evaluation of the district’s efforts to reduce
incidents of HIB and
•ensure that its investigation procedures support the
provision of consistent, timely assistance to individuals who
raise concerns about HIB, the promotion of a quick
resolution of HIB behavior, the implementation of policies
and practices that fulfill statutory and regulatory
requirements, and student safety and well being.
A designated school official will immediately
notify the designated law enforcement
official whenever any school employee in the
course of his or her employment develops
reason to believe that a crime or violent act
has been committed on school property, or
by or against a student during operating
hours or during school-related functions or
activities.
In deciding whether to refer the matter to the
designated law enforcement agency, the principal
of the school or his or her designee should consider
the nature and seriousness of the offense and the
risk that the offense posed to the health or safety of
other students, school employees, or the general
public and shall be mindful that offenses
committed on school grounds by or against
students may lead to an escalation of violence or
retaliation that may occur on school grounds or at
other locations.
Because legal standards for criminal
investigations are different, police
investigations or reports may not be
determinative of whether harassment
occurred under Title IX nor whether an act
can be classified as HIB, and do not relieve
the school of its duty to respond promptly
and effectively
• The obligation to report HIB is similar to the
universal requirement in NJ to report child abuse: all
staff and contracted providers must report alleged
incidents of HIB. Indeed, HIB is a form of child
abuse.
• Investigations must be conducted promptly and
documented in writing; and must include interviews
with all relevant parties, reviews all of relevant
documents, policies, regulations, and protocols, and
a review of prior documented cases of HIB.
•
A crime is a crime and must be reported to the
appropriate law enforcement agency.
•
Consequences for the perpetrator(s) should be
graduated according to the nature, severity, and
chronicity of the verified HIB, developmentally
appropriate, and determined in conjunction with the
totality of circumstances .
•
Support for the victim of the verified HIB in order to
protect his/her safety, provide social/emotional support,
provide academic support, and take steps to prevent
retaliation or retribution of the victim or complainant.
• Always monitor your school’s
social/emotional climate to ensure that it
does not directly or inadvertently support
HIB.
• Make sure everyone in the school
understands what HIB is and that that it
is unacceptable. At the same time convey
to all parties the nature of acceptable
behavior in school.
Prevention is essential: Without HIB,
you don’t need to memorize these
slides.