" Harassment, intimidation or bullying " means any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a single incident or a series of incidents, that is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or by any other distinguishing characteristic, that takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, on a school bus, or off school grounds as provided for in section 6 of P. L., c.( C.) that substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students and that: a. a reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a student or damaging the student ' s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his person or damage to his property;
b. has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students c. or creates a hostile educational environment for the student
d. by interfering with a student’ s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student
I. A reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, that the act( s) will have the effect of harming a student or school personnel, or damaging the student’ s or school personnel’ s property, or placing a student or school personnel in reasonable fear of harm to his / her person or damage to his / her property; or
II. Has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or school personnel, or group of students or school personnel, in such a way as to cause substantial disruption in, or substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school.
The District prohibits active and passive support for harassment, intimidation or bullying. Students are encouraged to support other students who walk away from these acts when they see them, constructively attempt to stop them, and report these acts to the Building Principal or his / her designee. The District prohibits reprisal or retaliation against any person who reports an act of harassment, intimidation or bullying.
Students who believe they have been subject to harassment should promptly report the incident to any teacher, counselor, principal or assistant principal. All reports, whether oral or written, shall be forwarded promptly to the Affirmative Action Officer for review.
Please refer to Policy and Regulation 5512 Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying, which is available on the Board website, for further clarification.
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