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2338 HARASSMENT/BULLYING
2338 3038 3038 4038 4038 6414 6414 It is the priority of
the Wake County Board of Education to provide every student and employee in
the school system with a safe and orderly learning and working
environment. To this end, the Board
specifically prohibits harassing or bullying behavior at all levels: between
students, between employees and students, between peers or coworkers, between
supervisors and subordinates, or between non-employees/volunteers and
employees and/or students. This policy is in addition to Board Policy
2320/3035/4035/6415 - Sexual Harassment. Students are expected
to comply with the behavior standards established by Board Policy and the
Student Code of Conduct. Employees are
expected to comply with Board Policy and school system regulations. Volunteers and visitors on school property
also are expected to comply with Board Policy and established school rules
and procedures. The Board specifically
prohibits reprisal or retaliation against any individual who makes a
complaint or reports an incident of harassing or bullying behavior or who
participates in an investigation or grievance proceeding initiated under this
policy. Reprisal or retaliation
against any individual who reports an act of harassment or bullying may
result in disciplinary action being taken, up to and including dismissal in
the case of employees, or up to and including long-term suspension or expulsion
in certain cases for students. This policy shall be
distributed annually in the Wake County Schools Student Handbook and the Wake
County Schools Employee Handbook. A. Definition of Harassment and Bullying 1. As
used in this policy, harassing or bullying behavior is any repeated,
systematic pattern of gestures or written, electronic,
or verbal communications, or any physical act or any
threatening communication on school property; at any school sponsored
function; on a school bus; or as otherwise stated in Board Policy 6400-
Student Code of Conduct, and that: a. Places
a student or school employee in actual and reasonable fear
of harm to his or her person or damage to his or her property;
or b. Creates or is certain to create a hostile
environment by substantially
interfering with or impairing a student’s educational performance,
opportunities, or benefits. A 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. 2. Harassing or bullying behavior includes, but is not limited to,
acts reasonably perceived as being
motivated by any actual or perceived differentiating characteristic,
such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, socioeconomic
status, academic status, gender identity, physical appearance, sexual
orientation, or mental, physical, developmental, or sensory disability, or by
association with a person who has or is
perceived to have one or more of these characteristics. B. Reporting
Harassing and Bullying Behavior 1. Any student who believes that he or she has been harassed or
bullied in violation of this policy should report such
behavior immediately to a teacher, counselor or administrator
at his/her school. 2. Any employee who believes that he or she has been harassed or
bullied in violation of this
policy should report such behavior to their immediate supervisor and/or
the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources or designee. 3. A school employee who has witnessed or has reliable information
that a student or school employee has
been subject to any act of harassing or bullying behavior shall report the incident as follows: a. To
the principal in the case of a student; or b. To the immediate
supervisor of the alleged harasser or bully and/or
the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.
c. Failure to do so make such a report may
subject the employee to disciplinary action. 4. Any person may report an act of harassment or bullying
anonymously. However, formal disciplinary action may not be
taken solely on the basis of an anonymous report. C. Investigation of
Harassment and Bullying Reports 1. All complaints of harassing or bullying behavior made by
students shall be promptly and
thoroughly investigated by the principal or designee. If the alleged harasser or
bully is an employee, the principal will determine if a referral to
Human Resources is warranted. 2. All complaints of harassing or bullying made by employees shall
be promptly reported to their
immediate supervisor and/or the Assistant Superintendent of Human
Resources. The investigation shall be conducted
by the Assistant Superintendent for
Human Resources or designee. 3. If the individual required to investigate a complaint made under
this policy is the alleged harasser or
bully, the investigation shall be conducted by an appropriate school
system administrator as designated by the Superintendent. If the alleged perpetrator
is the Superintendent, the Board attorney is the investigator. In such cases, whoever
receives a complaint of harassment or bullying shall immediately notify the Assistant Superintendent of
Human Resources, who shall immediately notify the Board
Chair. The Board Chair shall direct
the Board attorney to respond to the complaint and
investigate. If the alleged
perpetrator is a member of the Board, the
Board attorney is the investigator. In
such cases, whoever receives a complaint
of harassment or bullying shall notify the Superintendent who
shall direct the Board attorney to respond to the complaint and
investigate. Unless
the Board Chair is the alleged perpetrator, the Superintendent shall also notify
the Board Chair of the complaint. 4. If at any time during the investigation the school official
investigating a student’s allegation
of harassment or bullying receives information alleging the harassment
or bullying was based on sex or gender, the school official shall notify
the Title IX Coordinator. In such
cases, the procedures outlined in Board Policy
2320/3035/4035/6415 – Sexual Harassment shall be followed. Further, in any
case of alleged harassment or bullying, the school system shall notify any other
appropriate person or entity if required by law or Board Policy 2333/3033/4033- Reporting Information to
Principals and External Agencies. D. Disciplinary
Action 1. The actions taken in response to evidence
of harassing or bullying behavior should be reasonably
calculated to end any harassment or bullying, eliminate a hostile
environment if one has been created, and prevent harassment from occurring again. In addition to taking disciplinary action
as necessary, the principal or other
school official shall take appropriate remedial action to address the
conduct fully. 2. Violations of this policy shall be considered misconduct and
will result in disciplinary action up
to and including long- term suspension
or expulsion in the case
of students and disciplinary action up to and including dismissal
in the case of employees. 3. This policy may not be construed to allow school officials to punish student
expression or speech based on an undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance or out of a
desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that may accompany an
unpopular viewpoint. 4. Nothing in this policy precludes the school system from taking
disciplinary action against a student or
employee where the evidence does not establish harassment
but the conduct otherwise fails to satisfy the school system’s high expectations
for appropriate conduct.
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