Regulation Glen Ridge Board of Education
R 5512 REPORTING
PROCEDURE – HAZING AND/OR HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION, OR BULLYING
The
Board of Education recognizes the need for a procedure to be in place for
persons to report and investigate allegations of hazing and/or harassment,
intimidation, or bullying behavior. For
the purposes of this Regulation, “behavior” shall mean acts, or planned acts of
hazing as defined in Policy 5512 and/or acts of harassment, intimidation or
bullying as defined in Policy 5512.01.
Unless otherwise noted, “Building Principal” means the Principal and/or
designee of the school building.
The
following complaint procedures shall be used for an allegation(s) of hazing
and/or harassment, intimidation or bullying behavior:
1. Reporting Hazing and/or Harassment, Intimidation, or Bullying Behavior
a. Any
person with any information regarding actual and/or planned hazing and/or
information regarding acts of harassment, intimidation or bullying of a pupil
by any school employee or other pupils must report the information to the
Building Principal:
1) If the Building Principal deems it appropriate, he/she may immediately notify the parents/legal guardians of the alleged pupil(s) who may be, or was, the victim of this behavior and the accused pupil(s) who may or did this behavior.
2) The Building Principal will not disclose the name(s) of the person(s) accused or alleged victim(s) to the other party prior to completing a preliminary investigation.
3) The Building Principal will notify the district’s Affirmative Action Officer of the report prior to conducting a preliminary investigation. Nothing in Policies 5512 and 5512.01 or in this Regulation prohibits the school district’s Affirmative Action Officer from complying with the requirements of the district’s Affirmative Action Program as outlined in Policy 1550 and N.J.A.C. 6:4-1.1 et seq. In the event the Affirmative Action Officer believes an affirmative action plan violation may be present, the Affirmative Action Officer may conduct an investigation in accordance with Policy 1550.
b. The school district can learn of this behavior through other means such as from a witness to an incident, an anonymous letter or telephone call, web-based reporting systems, and/or locked boxes throughout the school where a report can be submitted without fear of being observed.
c. Nothing in Policies 5512 and 5512.01 and this Regulation shall preclude the Building Principal and/or designee, from complying with the provisions of Policy No. 5600 — Pupil Discipline in order to maintain the health, safety and welfare of staff and/or pupils.
d. In
the event the Building Principal determines, after a preliminary investigation
that hazing and/or harassment, intimidation, or bullying behavior may have been
present the Building Principal shall notify the parent(s) or legal guardian(s)of all involved pupils and any other involved individuals
of the process to be followed in investigating a report or complaint.
2. Building
Principal’s In-depth Investigation
a. The
Building Principal will begin an immediate in-depth investigation in the event
he/she believes behavior may have been present after a preliminary
investigation. The Building Principal,
at his/her discretion, may request the Affirmative Action Officer assist in the
investigation. The Building Principal
will promptly investigate all alleged complaints, whether or not a formal
complaint is filed, and steps will be taken to resolve the situation, if
needed. This investigation will be
prompt, thorough, and impartial. The
investigation will be completed by the Building Principal no more than ten
working days after receiving notice.
b. When
a pupil or the parent/legal guardian of a pupil provides information or
complains about hazing and/or harassing, intimidating or bullying behavior of a
pupil, the Building Principal will initially discuss what actions the pupil or
parent(s) or legal guardian(s) is seeking in response to the behavior.
c. The
Building Principal’s investigation may include, but is not limited to,
interviews with all persons with potential knowledge of the alleged behavior,
interviews with any pupils who may have been hazed and/or harassed,
intimidated, or bullied by any school employee or other pupils and any other
reasonable methods to determine if this behavior existed.
d. The
Building Principal will request, if relevant to an investigation, the parent(s)
or legal guardian(s) of any pupil involved in the investigation to assist in
the investigation to determine if the behavior exist(ed).
e. The
Building Principal will provide a copy of the Board Policies and Regulation on
Hazing and Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying to all persons who are
interviewed with potential knowledge and to any other person the Building
Principal feels would be served by a copy of such documents.
f. The Building Principal will explain the avenues for formal and informal action, including a description of the complaint procedure that is available for hazing and/or harassment, intimidation, or bullying complaints and an explanation on how the procedure works.
g. Any person interviewed by the Building Principal may be provided an opportunity to present witnesses and other evidence.
h. The
Building Principal and/or Superintendent may contact law enforcement agencies
if there is potential criminal conduct by any party.
i.
The school district administration may take interim measures during a Building
Principal’s investigation of a complaint in order to alleviate any conditions that prohibits the pupil from assisting in the
investigation.
If
there is a dispute about whether behavior occurred the
following types of information may be helpful in resolving the dispute:
(1)
Statements made by any witnesses to the alleged incident
(print-outs/transcripts of electronic communications).
(2)
Evidence about the relative credibility of the alleged accused or alleged
victim.
(3)
Evidence that the alleged accused has been found to have hazed and/or harassed,
intimidated or bullied others may support the credibility of the pupil claiming
the behavior.
(4)
Evidence of the alleged victim’s reaction or behavior after the alleged
behavior.
(5)
Evidence about whether the pupil claiming behavior against them filed a
complaint or took other action to protest the conduct soon after the alleged
incident occurred.
j. The scope of a reasonable response also may depend upon whether a pupil, or parent/legal guardian reporting the behavior asks that the pupil’s name not be disclosed to the accused or that nothing be done about the behavior. The Building Principal:
(1)
Will provide an overview of the
Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying Policy and the Hazing Policy to the pupil,
parent and/or legal guardian. In the event the pupil, parent(s) and/or legal
guardian(s), request the pupil’s name remain confidential, the Building
Principal will inform the pupil, parent and/or legal guardian that the request
may limit the school district’s ability to respond.
(2)
Will evaluate the confidentiality request
in the context of its responsibility to provide a safe environment for all
pupils. The factors to be considered
shall be the seriousness of the alleged behavior, the age of the pupils
involved, whether there have been any other complaints or reports. And the rights of the accused individual to
receive information about the accuser and the allegations if a formal
proceeding with sanctions may result.
(3)
May
use other means available to address the behavior. Steps may be taken to limit the effects of
the alleged behavior and prevent its reoccurrence without initiating a formal
complaint and revealing the identity of the complainant. These steps may require training at the site
where the problem occurred, taking a pupil survey concerning any problems that
may exist, or other systematic measures where the alleged behavior occurred.
(4)
By
conducting a limited investigation without revealing the name of the victim,
the Building Principal may be able to learn about or confirm a pattern of
behavior based on claims of different pupils that were hazed and/or harassed,
intimidated or bullied by the same individual.
The Building Principal may place an individual on notice of allegation
of behavior and counsel appropriately without revealing, even indirectly, the
identity of the pupil who notified the school district.
3. Investigation
Results
a. Upon
the conclusion of the investigation, but not later than ten working days after
reported, the Building Principal will prepare a summary of findings to the
parties. At the least this shall include
the person(s) providing notice to the school district, the pupil(s) who were
alleged to be the victim of hazing and/or harassing, intimidating, or bullying
behavior, and the Affirmative Action Officer.
b. The
Building Principal shall make a determination whether hazing and/or harassing,
intimidating or bullying behavior was present.
c. If
the Building Principal concludes the behavior was not, or is not present, the
investigation is concluded.
d. If
the Building Principal determines the behavior has occurred, the school
district administrators and staff shall take reasonable, age—appropriate, and
effective corrective action, including steps tailored to the specific
situation. Appropriate steps will be
taken to end the hazing and/or harassment, intimidation or bullying such as
counseling, warning, and/or disciplinary action, as specified in pupil and/or
staff discipline policies and regulations.
The steps will be based on the severity of the behavior or any record of
prior incidents or both. A series of
escalating consequences may be necessary if the initial steps are ineffective
in stopping the harassment.
e.
The school district administrators may need to deliver special training or
other interventions to repair the educational environment. Other measures may include directing the
person(s) to apologize to the victim(s), dissemination of information,
distribution of new policy statements or other steps to communicate the message
that the Board does not tolerate harassment, intimidating, bullying and/or hazing
and will be responsive to any pupil that reports such conduct.
f.
In some situations, the school district administrators may need to provide
other services to the victim(s) if necessary to address the effects of the
behavior on that pupil. Depending on the
type of behavior found, these additional services may include an independent
re—assessment of the pupil’s work, re—taking a course with a different
instructor, tutoring and/or other measures that are appropriate to the
situation.
g.
The school district administrators will take steps to avoid any further hazing
and/or harassment, intimidation, or bullying behavior and to prevent any
retaliation against the pupil who made the complaint,
was the subject of the behavior, or against those who provided the information
or were witnesses. The Building
Principal will inform the victim pupil and his/her parent how to report any
subsequent problems and make follow—up inquiries to see if there has been any new incidents or retaliation.
h.
All grievances and accompanied investigation notes will be maintained in a
confidential file by the Building Principal.
4. Building
Principal’s Investigation Appeal Process
a. Any person found by the Building Principal’s investigation to be guilty of hazing and/or harassment, intimidation, or bullying behavior, or any pupil who believes they were hazed and/or harassed, intimidated, or bullied but not supported by the Building Principal’s investigation, may appeal to the Superintendent. The Superintendent will review the Building Principal’s report and any other information he/she deems appropriate, to make a determination. The Superintendent will make his/her determination within ten working days of receiving the appeal.
b. Any
person who is not satisfied with the Superintendent’s determination may appeal
to the Board. The Board will review the
Building Principal’s report and the Superintendent’s determination, along with
any other information the Board deems appropriate to make a Board
determination. The Board will make its
determination within forty-five calendar days of receiving an appeal from the
Superintendent’s determination.
Office
Of Civil Rights (OCR) Case Resolution
Parents
or pupils not satisfied with the resolution by the school district officials or
the Board may request the Office of Civil Rights (
Adopted:
Revised: 28 August 2006