2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 9A - Department of Education (1999) › Subchapter III - The Students (§§ 144a — 144m) › § 144g-1 - School environment—Public policy for the prevention of harassment and bullying of students

The Secretary shall promulgate, within the Students Regulations for the Public Education System, an energetic public policy on the prohibition and prevention of acts of harassment and bullying of students within the school building or grounds or areas surrounding them in activities sponsored by schools and in school buses.
The Student Regulations for the Public Education System shall include within its text the following definition of the act of harassment and bullying. This act shall be defined as any action carried out intentionally, by means of a gesture, whether verbal, written, or physical that has the effect of frightening students and that interferes with their education, their academic opportunities, and their performance in the classroom. The acts of harassing and bullying shall also include communication through electronic means (cyberbullying), which include, but shall not be limited to text messages, emails, photos, images, and posts in social media through electronic devices such as telephones, mobile phones, computers, tablets, and pagers.
For the purposes of this chapter, in general terms said act must be continuous in order for it to be considered harassment and bullying. However, a single event could be considered harassment and bullying due to the severity of the same, as provided by the Secretary through regulation and adopted by the School Boards, upon consultation with the parents of students associations.
All the above stated shall be considered within the perspective of what a reasonable person would deem to be a noxious or risky situation for students or their property. With respect to the conduct of the bully, it shall be examined within the abovementioned perspective. The pertinent authorities shall take into consideration the severity, persistence or continuity of the actions within this conceptual framework as well as the consequences thereof upon creating an environment of harassment and bullying for the affected student or students.
Likewise, within the abovementioned Regulation the following shall be established: the prohibition of harassment and bullying acts; what shall constitute the act or conduct of harassment and bullying; the methods for reporting incidents of harassment or bullying; the process to be established to process these cases; and the consequences for the students who violate these norms.
The Secretary, through the authorized personnel, shall remit a copy of these regulations and of the code of conduct for students to all students of the Public Education System. The Secretary is authorized to make these documents available to all private schools in Puerto Rico that wish to establish said public policy within their educational institution.
The School Boards, in coordination with the student’s parent associations shall adopt complementary regulations to implement the public policy on harassment and bullying of students established by the Secretary in their schools.
History —July 15, 1999, No, 149, added as § 3.08a on Apr. 29, 2008, No. 49, § 1; Sept. 15, 2012, No. 256, § 1.