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PROHIBITION OF HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION OR
BULLYING
The Governing Board of Education of the Clermont County Educational Service
Center does not tolerate harassment, intimidation or bullying of any student
on school property or at a school-sponsored event, regardless of whether the
event occurs on or off school property (including on school buses and other
school-related vehicles). Students who engage in such behavior are subject
to disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion from school. The
Governing Board’s commitment to addressing such prohibited behavior involves
a multi-faceted approach, which includes education and the promotion of a
school atmosphere in which harassment, intimidation and bullying will not be
tolerated by students, staff or administration.
For purposes of this policy, the term “harassment, intimidation or bullying”
means any intentional written, verbal or physical act that a student has
exhibited toward another particular student more than once and the behavior
both: (1) causes mental or physical harm to the other student; and (2) is
sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that it creates an
intimidating, threatening or abusive educational environment for the other
student.
Further, for the purposes of this policy, the terms “staff member”’, “school
personnel”, “staff”, and “employee” shall include those individuals assigned
to the Clermont County Educational Service Center through a contract with an
outside agency.
Reporting Procedure
Students, parents or guardians are encouraged to immediately report conduct
they consider to be harassment, intimidation or bullying to a teacher,
principal or other administrator. Likewise, all school personnel who become
aware of harassment, intimidation or bullying shall immediately report such
behavior to the building principal.
Any staff member who receives a report of harassment, intimidation or
bullying shall promptly reduce the complaint to writing utilizing the
Governing Board of Education’s harassment, intimidation or bullying
complaint form, which shall be made available in the office of the principal
of each school building, the Governing Board of Education’s central
administrative office, student handbook, and downloadable from the Governing
Board of Education’s website. The complaint form shall specifically describe
the actions giving rise to the suspicion of harassment, intimidation or
bullying, including identification of all person(s) involved, the time and
place of the conduct alleged, the number of such incidents, the target of
the alleged behavior, and the names of any student or staff witnesses. Such
written report shall be promptly forwarded to the building principal for
administrative response.
The building principal or designee shall notify the parents, guardians or
legal custodians of any student involved in an incident of harassment,
intimidation or bullying under this policy. Such persons shall have access
to any written reports pertaining to the prohibited incident to the extent
permitted by State and Federal privacy/confidentiality laws.
Administrative Response
The building principal or designee shall promptly investigate all reports of
harassment, intimidation or bullying. All matters involving such complaints
should remain confidential to the extent permitted by law.
1. The principal or designee will confer with the student, parent or
guardian making the report in order to obtain a clear understanding of the
alleged facts. If not already completed, the principal or designee will
complete the harassment, intimidation or bullying complaint form.
2. The principal or designee will meet with all witnesses identified by the
person(s) making the report of harassment, intimidation or bullying.
Witnesses will be asked to make a statement both orally and in writing
regarding the alleged facts that form the basis of the complaint.
3. The principal or designee will meet with the student(s) accused of
harassment, intimidation or bullying to obtain a response to the complaint
both orally and in writing.
4. Following the completion of the investigation, any student(s) found to
have violated this policy will be subject to any of the disciplinary actions
described in the Student Code of Conduct.
5. Retaliation against any student who makes a complaint of harassment,
intimidation or bullying, or any student who becomes involved in the
investigation of such complaint, is strictly prohibited, and may result in
discipline irrespective of the merits of the initial complaint.
6. The building principal or designee shall have the authority to involve
local law enforcement if an individual believes danger is imminent due to
the alleged harassment, intimidation or bullying.
Preventative measures
This policy shall appear in student handbooks and other publications that
set forth the comprehensive rules, procedures, and standards of conduct for
schools and students in the district. Information regarding this policy
shall also be incorporated into employee training manuals.
To the extent that state or federal funds are appropriated for these
purposes, the Governing Board will provide training, workshops or courses on
this policy to school employees and volunteers who have direct contact with
students.
Teachers and building administration will educate students about this policy
through class discussion, counseling and reinforcement of appropriate
student behavior. School personnel should intervene promptly whenever they
observe student-on-student misbehavior, even if such conduct does not yet
meet the frequency, severity or pervasiveness to constitute harassment,
intimation or bullying that is prohibited by this policy.
If the building principal or designee finds that a student has been the
victim of harassment, intimidation or bullying, in addition to the
imposition of disciplinary action against the student-offender, the
following strategies may be implemented to protect the victim from
additional harassment, intimidation or bullying:
1. Staff may be instructed to observe and record the behavior of the
student-offender in less-supervised settings such as the cafeteria,
playground and restrooms. If the student-offender’s misbehavior persists,
administration may assign the student-offender to recess, lunch or
class-release times different from those of the student-victim.
2. The offending student and his/her parent(s) or guardian(s) may be
requested to participate in a conference with building administration and
staff in an attempt to enlist the parent(s) or guardian(s) to work
cooperatively with the school to stop the harassment, intimidation or
bullying.
3. In consultation with the student-victim and his/her parent(s) or
guardian(s), the building principal may examine the student’s daily schedule
to identify those activities where harassment, intimidation or bullying most
often occur and make arrangements to increase supervision or adjust the
student’s schedule to reduce or eliminate the potential for harassment,
intimidation, or bullying.
4. Staff may be instructed to change classroom layout or rearrange seating
to eliminate “blind spots” where future acts of harassment, intimidation or
bullying may occur.
Summary of reported incidents
On January 30th and June 30th of each school year, the Superintendent shall
provide the Governing Board President with a written summary of all reported
incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying. To the extent permitted
by State and Federal privacy/confidentiality laws, a summary of reported
incidents shall be posted on the web site of the Governing Board of
Education concurrent with each report to the Governing Board President.
No liability for good faith compliance
A Clermont County Educational Service Center employee, student, or volunteer
shall be individually immune from liability in a civil action for damages
arising from reporting an incident in accordance with this policy if the
incident is reported promptly, in good faith, and in compliance with the
procedures as specified in this policy.
[Adoption Date: December 20, 2007]
LEGAL REFS.: Ohio Revised Code 3313.66
Ohio Revised Code 3313.661
Ohio Revised Code 3313.663
Ohio Revised Code 3313.666
Ohio Revised Code 3313.667
Ohio Revised Code 3319.321
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. 1232q
Clermont County Educational Service Center Governing Board
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