4329/7311 Bullying and Harassing Behavior Prohibited

A. Relationship to Other Policies

• Discrimination and Harassment Prohibited by Federal Law, policy 1710/4020/7230 (prohibiting harassment based on race, color, national origin, disability, or religion);
• Title IX Sexual Harassment - Prohibited Conduct and Reporting Process, policy 1725/4035/7236 (prohibiting sexual harassment); and
• Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace, policy 7232 (prohibiting harassment of employees and applicants based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, military affiliation, or genetic information).

B. Conduct that is Considered Bullying or Harassing Behavior

1. Bullying is deliberate conduct intended to harm another person or group of persons. It is characterized by repeated unwanted aggressive behavior that typically involves a real or perceived imbalance of power, such as a difference in physical size, strength, social standing, intellectual ability, or authority. It may consist of either physical, verbal, or nonverbal behavior. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that is carried out using electronic communication media, such as words, action, or conduct conveyed through email, instant messages, text messages, tweets, blogs, photo or video sharing, chat rooms, or websites, and may exist in the absence of a power imbalance typical of other forms of bullying.

2. Harassing behavior is conduct that is intimidating, hostile, or abusive, or is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Harassing behavior may violate this policy even if no harm is intended to the target and no power imbalance is evident.

3. Bullying or harassing behavior includes conduct that is, or reasonably appears to be, motivated by actual or perceived differentiating personal characteristics, or by a person’s association with someone who has or is perceived to have a differentiating personal characteristic. Differentiating personal characteristics include, but are not limited to race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, academic status, gender identity, physical appearance, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, developmental, or sensory disability. Bullying and harassing behavior can violate this policy regardless of a student’s motivation.

4. Examples of behavior that may constitute bullying or harassing behavior are repeated acts of disrespect, intimidation, or threats, such as verbal taunts, name-calling and put-downs, epithets, derogatory or lewd comments, spreading rumors, extortion of money or possessions, implied or stated threats, assault, offensive touching, physical interference with normal work or movement, visual insults, such as derogatory posters or cartoons, and sharing intimate photos or video of a person or sharing photos or videos that may subject a person to ridicule or insult.

5. Other behaviors that may constitute bullying or harassing behavior under this policy are deliberate, unwelcome touching that has sexual connotations or is of a sexual nature, pressure for sexual activity, offensive sexual flirtations, advances or propositions, verbal remarks about an individual’s body, sexually degrading words used toward an individual or to describe an individual, or the display of sexually suggestive drawings, objects, pictures, or written materials.

6. These examples are not exhaustive but are intended to illustrate the wide range of behavior that may constitute bullying and harassing behavior.

7. Conduct such as the following is not considered bullying or harassing behavior:  legitimate pedagogical techniques, the exercise of legitimate authority, and academic or work performance monitoring and evaluation.

C. When Bullying or Harassing Behavior Violates this Policy

1. places a student, an employee, or other person in actual and reasonable fear of harm to their person or property; or

2. creates or is certain to create a hostile environment by substantially interfering with or impairing a student’s educational performance, opportunities, or benefits.

"Hostile environment" means that the victim subjectively views the conduct as bullying or harassing behavior and the conduct is objectively severe or pervasive enough that a reasonable person would agree that it is bullying or harassing behavior.

D. Reporting Bullying and Harassing Behavior

1. Reports by Students and/or Parents and Guardians

1. The board encourages students or parents/guardians of students who have been the victim of or who have witnessed bullying or harassing behavior in violation of this policy to immediately report such incidents to a teacher, counselor, coach, assistant principal, or the principal.
2. Reports may be made orally or in writing and may be made anonymously.
3. All reports of serious violations and complaints made under this policy will be investigated expeditiously.  Anonymous reports will be investigated to the extent reasonably possible under the circumstances.
4. If, at any time, school officials determine that the alleged bullying or harassing behavior appears to be based on sex, race, color, national origin, disability, or religion, the matter will be investigated in accordance with the applicable policy listed in Section A above.

2. Mandatory Reporting by School Employees

An employee who witnesses or who has reliable information that a student or other individual has been bullied or harassed in violation of this policy must report the incident to his or her supervisor or to the building principal immediately. If sexual harassment is suspected, the employee also must report the incident to the Title IX coordinator. An employee who does not promptly report possible bullying or harassing behavior will be subject to disciplinary action.

3. Reporting by Other Third Parties

Other members of the school community may report incidents of bullying or harassment to the school principal or the superintendent or designee.

4. Reporting False Allegations

It is a violation of board policy to knowingly report false allegations of bullying or harassing behavior. A student or employee found to knowingly report or corroborate false allegations will be subject to disciplinary action.

E. Reports of Bullying or Harassing Behavior Based on Sex, Race, Color, National Origin, Disability, or Religion

F. Response to Reports of Bullying or Harassing Behavior

1. Reports of bullying and harassing behavior or the encouragement of such behavior under this policy will be investigated promptly by the principal or the principal’s designee and addressed in accordance with this policy and policy 4340, School-Level Investigations. If the principal is the alleged perpetrator, the superintendent will designate an appropriate investigator.

2. If at any time before, during, or after the investigation under this policy, the principal or designee determines or suspects that the alleged bullying or harassing behavior is based on sex, race, color, national origin, disability, or religion, the principal or designee shall notify the appropriate civil rights coordinator and proceed in accordance with the applicable board policy as described in Section A, above. However, referral to the civil rights coordinator will not preclude appropriate disciplinary consequences for a violation of this policy if, following the designated investigation and resolution process under the appropriate board policy, the behavior is determined not to constitute discriminatory harassment in violation of federal law.

3. No reprisals or retaliation of any kind are permitted as a result of good faith reports of bullying or harassing behavior. An employee who engages in reprisal or retaliation will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. A student who does so is subject to disciplinary consequences as provided in Section G, below.

G. Consequences

1. Students

The disciplinary consequences for violations of this policy should take into consideration the frequency of incidents, the developmental age of the student involved, and the severity of the conduct must be consistent with the Code of Student Conduct. The superintendent or designee shall list in the Code of Student Conduct the specific range of consequences that may be imposed on a student for violations of this policy.

A student who is convicted under G.S. 14-458.2 of cyberbullying a school employee will be transferred to another school. If there is no other appropriate school within the school system, the student will be transferred to a different class or assigned to a teacher who was not involved as a victim of the cyberbullying. The superintendent may modify the required transfer of an individual student on a case-by-case basis and shall provide a written statement of this modification in the student’s record.

2. Employees

Employees who violate this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

3. Others

Volunteers and visitors who violate this policy will be directed to leave school property and/or reported to law enforcement, as appropriate, in accordance with policy 5020, Visitors to the Schools. A third party under the supervision and control of the school system will be subject to termination of contracts/agreements, restricted from school property, and/or subject to other consequences, as appropriate.

H. Other Interventions

I. Notice

J. Records

Legal Reference: G.S. 14-458.2; 115C-105.51, -366.4, -407.15 through -407.18

Cross Reference: Discrimination and Harassment Prohibited by Federal Law (policy 1710/4020/7230), Title IX Sexual Harassment - Prohibited Conduct and Reporting Process (policy 1725/4035/7236), Investigations (policy 4340), Visitors to the Schools (policy 5020), Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace (policy 7232)

Adopted: January 10, 2022