Bullying in Schools: What We're Supposed to do When a Report of Bullying is Made...

The approach to managing and controlling incidents of bullying/harassment on Florida's school campuses has become very prescriptive with the passage of the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act in 2008.  This law's passage gave Florida some of the toughest sanctions against bullying and harassment in schools in the nation.  

Our school board rules regarding Bullying mirror the statute.

But a law is useless if it is not enforced with fidelity.

I have concerns that our district may not be adhering to this law and the associated school board rules regarding the way these incidents are handled once a bullying complaint has been made.  I've seen incidents, including one that occurred in one of our district's middle schools on December 2, 2014, for which I do not have confidence the rule was followed.  The classroom teacher who knows the alleged bully and his victims and had taught them all year wrote that the infraction was bullying, and she was not going to tolerate it.  She wrote "Bullying" twice on the referral.  Did we follow our school board rule?  I have requested the investigative report to figure out if we did.

I'm zeroing in on this and I intend to make it my mission to ensure we are following this law and these rules.

Read the complete chapter 7.18 here, or see an excerpt of the investigative language from 7.18 below

(From Chapter 7 of the School Board Rules)

"C. Any written or oral reporting of an act of bullying or harassment shall be considered

an official means of reporting such act(s). Reports may be made anonymously, but

formal disciplinary action may not be based solely upon an anonymous report.

(4) 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:

A. The principal or designee will select a designee(s), employed by the school, trained

in investigative procedures to initiate the investigation. The designee(s) may not be

the accused perpetrator (harasser or bully) or victim.

B. Documented interviews of the victim, alleged perpetrator, and witnesses shall be

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.

C. The investigator shall collect and evaluate the facts including but not limited to

1. description of incident(s) including nature of the behavior;

2. context in which the alleged incident(s) occurred, etc.;

3. how often the conduct occurred;

4. whether there were past incidents or past continuing patterns of behavior;

5. the relationship between the parties involved;

6. the characteristics of parties involved (i.e., grade, age, etc.);

7. the identity and number of individuals who participated in bullying or

harassing behavior;

8. where the alleged incident(s) occurred;

9. whether the conduct adversely affected the student’s education or

educational environment;

10. whether the alleged victim felt or perceived an imbalance of power as a

result of the reported incident; and

11. the date, time, and method in which the parent(s)/guardian(s) of all parties

involved were contacted.

(5) 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

A. recommended remedial steps necessary to stop the bullying and/or harassing

behavior; and

B. a written final report to the principal.

(6) A maximum of ten (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.

(7) The process to investigate whether a reported act of bullying or harassment is within the

scope of the District and, if not, the process for referral of such an act to the appropriate

jurisdiction:

A. A principal or designee will assign a designee(s) trained in investigative procedures

to initiate an investigation of whether an act of bullying or harassment is within the

scope of the District.

B. The trained designee(s) will provide a report on results of investigation with

recommendations for the principal to make a determination if an act of bullying or

harassment falls within the scope of the District.

1. If it is within the scope of the District, move to Procedures for Investigating

Bullying and/or Harassment.

2. If it is outside the scope of the District, and determined a criminal act, refer

to appropriate law enforcement.

3. If it is outside the scope of the District, and determined not a criminal act,

inform parent(s)/guardian(s) of all students involved.

(8) Procedure for providing immediate notification to the parent(s)/guardian(s) of a victim of

bullying or harassment and the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the perpetrator of an act of bullying

or harassment as well as notification to all local agencies where criminal charges may be

pursued against the perpetrator:

A. The principal, or designee, shall promptly report via telephone, personal

conference, and/or in writing, the occurrence of any incident of bullying or

harassment as defined by this policy to the parent(s)/guardian(s) of all students

involved on the same day an investigation of the incident(s) has been initiated.

B. Notification must be consistent with the student privacy rights under the applicable

provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

(9) If the bullying incident results in the perpetrator being charged with a crime, the principal,

or designee, shall by telephone or in writing by first class mail, inform parent(s)/guardian(s)

of the victim(s) involved in the bullying incident about the Unsafe School Choice Option

(No Child Left Behind, Title IX, Part E, Subpart 2, Section 9532) that states “...a student

who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, as determined by State law, while in

or on the grounds of a public elementary school or secondary school that the student

attends, be allowed to attend a safe public elementary school or secondary school within

the local educational agency, including a public charter school.”

(10) Once the investigation has been completed and it has been determined that criminal charges

may be pursued against the perpetrator, all appropriate local law enforcement agencies will

be notified by telephone and/or in writing.

(11) Procedure to refer victims and perpetrators of bullying or harassment for counseling:

A. A teacher or parent(s)/guardian(s) 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 in any bullying

incident (the involved students’ parent(s)/guardian(s) may be included).

B. School personnel or the parent(s)/guardian(s) may refer students to the school

intervention team (or equivalent school-based team with a problem-solving focus)

for consideration of appropriate services. (Parent(s)/guardian(s) involvement is

required at this point.)

C. If a formal discipline report or formal complaint is made, the principal or designee

must refer the student(s) to the school intervention team for determination of

counseling support and interventions. (Parent(s)/guardian(s) involvement is

required at this point.)

D. The intervention team may determine appropriate intervention and assistance that

includes:

1. Counseling and support to address the needs of the victims of bullying or

harassment;

2. research-based counseling/interventions to address the behavior of the

students who bully and harass others (e.g., empathy training, anger

management); or

3. research-based counseling/interventions, which include assistance and

support, provided to parent(s)/guardian(s), if deemed necessary or

appropriate.

(12) Procedure for including incidents of bullying or harassment in the school’s report of data

concerning School Safety and Discipline Data required under Section 1006.09(6), F.S.

A. The report shall include each incident of bullying or harassment and the resulting

consequences, including discipline and referrals. The report shall 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:

1. The District 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 bullyingrelated

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.

2. 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:

a. alcohol

b. arson

c. battery

d. breaking and entering

e. disruption on campus

f. drugs

g. fighting

h. homicide

i. kidnapping

j. larceny/theft

k. robbery

l. sexual battery

m. sexual harassment

n. sexual offenses

o. threat/intimidation

p. tobacco

q. trespassing

r. vandalism

s. weapons possession

t. other major (other major incidents that do not fit within the other

definitions

 (13) Discipline and referral data will be recorded in Student Discipline/Referral Action Report

and Automated Student Information System.

(14) 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.

(15) Procedure for providing instruction to students, parent(s)/guardian(s), teachers, school

administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers on identifying, preventing, and

responding to bullying or harassment:

A. The District shall endeavor to ensure 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), parent(s)/guardian(s), and students.

B. Students, teachers, school administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers

shall be given instruction at a minimum on an annual basis on the District's Policy

and Regulations against bullying and harassment. Instruction on the District's

Policy and Regulations against bullying and harassment shall be offered to

parent(s)/guardian(s) and school volunteers at least annually. 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.

 (16) Procedure for regularly reporting to a victim’s parent(s)/guardian(s) 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(s)/guardian(s) of

all students involved on the same day an investigation of the incident has been

initiated. According to the level of infraction, parent(s)/guardian(s) 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).

(17) Procedure for publicizing the policy, which must include its publication in the School

District of Escambia County Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, required under

Section 1006.07(2), F.S., and in all employee handbooks:

A. At the beginning of each school year, the Superintendent or designee shall, in

writing, inform school staff, parent(s)/guardian(s), or other persons responsible for

the welfare of a student of the District’s student safety and violence prevention

policy.

B. Each district school shall provide notice to students and staff of this policy through

appropriate references in the School District of Escambia County Student Rights

and Responsibilities Handbook and employee handbooks, and/or through other

reasonable means. The Superintendent shall also make all contractors contracting

with the District aware of this policy.

(18) Each school principal shall develop an annual process for discussing the District’s 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"