New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 6A - EDUCATION › Chapter 16 - PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT STUDENT DEVELOPMENT › Subchapter 7 - STUDENT CONDUCT › Section 6A:16-7.7 - Harassment, intimidation, and bullying

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Each
				district board of education shall develop, adopt, and implement a policy
				prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying on school grounds, pursuant
				to
N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15
.
1. Each district board of education shall
				develop the policy in consultation with, at a minimum, parents and other
				community members, school employees, school volunteers, students, and school
				administrators.
2. Each district
				board of education shall have control over the content of the policy, except
				that the policy shall contain, at a minimum, the following components:
i. A statement prohibiting harassment,
				intimidation or bullying of a student;
ii. A definition of harassment, intimidation
				or bullying no less inclusive than that set forth in the definition at
				18A:37-14 and
				6A:16-1.3;
iii. A statement that bullying is unwanted,
				aggressive behavior that may involve a real or perceived power
				imbalance;
iv. A description of the
				type of behavior expected from each student;
v. Appropriate remedial action for a student
				who commits an act of harassment, intimidation, or bullying that takes into
				account the nature of the behavior; the nature of the student's disability, if
				any, and to the extent relevant; the developmental age of the student; and the
				student's history of problem behaviors and performance. The appropriate
				remedial action also may include the following:
(1) A behavioral assessment or evaluation
				including, but not limited to, a referral to the child study team, as
				appropriate; and
(2) Supportive
				interventions and referral services, including those at N.J.A.C.
				6A:16-8;
vi.
				Consequences for a student who commits an act of harassment, intimidation, or
				bullying that are:
(1) Varied and graded
				according to the nature of the behavior; the nature of the student's
				disability, if any, and to the extent relevant; the developmental age of the
				student; and the student's history of problem behaviors and performance;
				and
(2) Consistent with the
				provisions of N.J.A.C. 6A:16-7, as appropriate;
vii. Appropriate consequences and remedial
				action for a staff member who commits an act of harassment, intimidation, or
				bullying;
viii. A procedure that
				allows for reporting, verbally and in writing, an act of harassment,
				intimidation, or bullying committed by an adult or youth against a student. The
				procedure also shall include a provision that permits a person to report
				anonymously consistent with
N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15
.b(5).
(1) The district board of education shall not
				take formal disciplinary action based solely on the anonymous report.
(2) The school district official shall take
				into account the circumstances of the incident when providing notification to
				parents and guardians of all students involved in the reported harassment,
				intimidation, or bullying incident and when conveying the nature of the
				incident, including the actual or perceived protected category motivating the
				alleged offense;
ix. A
				procedure for prompt investigation of violation and complaint reports
				consistent with
N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15
.b(6)(a) through (f) and
				16.d.
(1) The procedure set forth in the
				district board of education policy may include a process prior to initiating an
				investigation by which the principal, or his or her designee, in consultation
				with the anti-bullying specialist, makes a preliminary determination as to
				whether a reported incident or complaint, assuming all facts presented are
				true, is a report within the scope of
N.J.S.A. 18A:37-14
.
(A) If a preliminary determination finds the
				incident or complaint is a report outside the scope of
N.J.S.A.
				18A:37-14
, the determination may be appealed to the district board of
				education, pursuant to district board of education policies and procedures
				governing pupil grievances, and thereafter to the Commissioner in accordance
				with
N.J.A.C. 6A:3
.
(2) The procedure also shall include a
				process by which the district board of education will investigate a complaint
				or report of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, pursuant to (a)2ix above,
				occurring on district board of education school buses, at district board of
				education school-sponsored functions, and off school grounds involving a
				student who attends an approved PSSD.
(A) The
				investigation conducted by the district board of education's anti-bullying
				specialist shall be in consultation with the approved PSSD.
(3) To protect the victim, the
				procedure also shall take into account the circumstances of the incident when
				communicating with parents and when following the provisions of
N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15
.
(4) Investigations of complaints concerning
				adult conduct shall not be investigated by a member of the same bargaining unit
				as the individual who is the subject of the investigation;
x. A requirement for the principal, in
				conjunction with the school anti-bullying specialist, to define the range of
				ways in which a school will respond once an incident of harassment,
				intimidation, or bullying is identified, consistent with the range of responses
				adopted by the board of education, pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
				18A:37-15
.b(7);
(1) The school
				district official shall take into account the circumstances of the incident
				when responding and, at a minimum, include support for victims of harassment,
				intimidation, or bullying and corrective actions for documented systemic
				problems related to harassment, intimidation, or bullying;
xi. A requirement that within five school
				days after the results of the harassment, intimidation, or bullying
				investigation are reported to the district board of education, information
				about the investigation shall be provided in writing to the parents or
				guardians of students who are party to a harassment, intimidation, or bullying
				investigation.
(1) Any request by the parents
				or guardians for a hearing before the district board of education concerning
				the written information about a harassment, intimidation, or bullying
				investigation, pursuant to
N.J.S.A. 18A:37-15
.b(6)(d), shall
				be filed with the district board of education secretary no later than 60
				calendar days after the written information is received by the parents or
				guardians.
(2) The hearing shall be
				held within 10 business days of receipt of the request.
xii. A statement that prohibits a district
				board of education member, school employee, student, or volunteer from engaging
				in reprisal, retaliation, or false accusation against a victim, witness, or any
				person who reports or has reliable information about an act of harassment,
				intimidation, or bullying.
(1) The statement
				shall include the consequence(s) and appropriate remedial action(s) for a
				person who engages in reprisal or retaliation;
xiii. Consequences and appropriate remedial
				action for a person found to have falsely accused another as a means of
				retaliation or harassment, intimidation, or bullying;
xiv. A statement of how the harassment,
				intimidation, and bullying policy is to be publicized, including notice that
				the policy applies to participation in school-sponsored functions and on school
				buses.
(1) Notice of the district board of
				education's policy shall appear in any publication of the school district that
				sets forth the code of student conduct, pursuant to
				6A:16-7.1, for schools within the
				school district;
xv. A
				requirement that a link to the harassment, intimidation, and bullying policy be
				posted prominently on the home page of the school district's and each school's
				website;
xvi. A requirement that
				the harassment, intimidation, and bullying policy be distributed annually to
				all school staff, students, and parents;
xvii. A requirement that the name of the
				school district's anti-bullying coordinator and his or her school phone number,
				school address, and school e-mail address be listed on the home page of the
				school district's website;
xviii. A
				requirement that the name of the school's anti-bullying specialist and his or
				her school phone number, school address, and school e-mail address be listed on
				the home page of the school's website; and
xix. Provisions for appropriate responses to
				harassment, intimidation, or bullying, as defined in
				18A:37-14 and N.J.A.C. 6A:16-1.3,
				that occurs off school grounds in cases in which a school employee is made
				aware of the actions or a school administrator should have known of an incident
				of harassment, intimidation, or bullying.
(1)
				Responses to harassment, intimidation, or bullying that occurs off school
				grounds shall be consistent with
				6A:16-7.1 and 7.5 and this
				section.