SCHOOL POLICIES
Student Behavior: Bullying and Cyber-Bullying (8/8/2020)
Preparatory Academy is committed to providing a community that is safe, secure, and free from bullying and harassment for all students, employees, and volunteers. We will not tolerate bullying and harassment. Conduct that constitutes bullying and harassment is prohibited.
The following definitions are intended to provide guidance in assessing whether a behavior is prohibited. These definitions are not exhaustive in their scope and are not intended to replace the intuition of the individual. When in doubt, we urge you to rule on the side of caution and report your concerns to the appropriate authority, as provided for in this policy.
Definitions
Bullying includes "cyberbullying" and means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students, volunteers or employees. Bullying is defined as any unwanted and repeated written, verbal, or physical behavior, including any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, by an adult or student, that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause discomfort or humiliation; or unreasonably interfere with the individual's school performance or participation; and may involve:
I.teasing
II.threats
III.intimidation
IV.stalking
V.cyberstalking
VI.physical violence
VII.theft
VIII.sexual, socio, religious, or racial harassment
IX.public or private humiliation
X.destruction of property
XI.hazing
XII.social exclusion.
Cyberbullying: bullying using technology or any electronic communication, which includes, but is not limited to:
I.creation of a webpage or weblog in which the creator assumes the identity of another person
II.impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages, if the creation or impersonation creates any of the conditions enumerated in the definition of bullying.
III.distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons, if the distribution or posting creates any of the conditions enumerated in the definition of bullying
“Electronic communication” may include, but is not limited to any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, or data intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic system, photoelectronic system, or photo optical system, including, but not limited to
i.electronic mail
ii.phone communications
iii.Internet communications
iv.instant messages
v.facsimile communications
Cyberstalking: the repeated use of electronic communications to harass, isolate, humiliate, frighten or attempt to control someone. It may also include attempting to gather information about another person without their knowledge/consent or monitoring someone’s actions.
Harassment: any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, use of data or computer software, or written, verbal or physical conduct directed against a student or school employee that:
I.places a student or school employee in reasonable fear of harm to his/her person or damage to his/her property;
II.has the effect of substantially interfering with a student's educational performance, opportunities, or benefits; or
III.has the effect of substantially disrupting the orderly operation of a school.
Electronically communications: acts that a student or a group of students exhibits toward another student or group which:
I.causes mental or physical harm to the other student(s)
II.is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for the other student(s)
Bullying and harassment also encompass:
I.Retaliation against a student or school employee by another student or school employee for reporting an act of bullying of harassment.
a.Reporting an act of bullying or harassment that is not made in good faith is considered retaliation.
II.Continuation of conduct listed in the definition of bullying and/or harassment by an individual or group with intent to demean, dehumanize, embarrass, or cause emotional or physical harm to a student or school employee by:
a.incitement or coercion
b.accessing or knowingly and willingly causing or providing access to data or computer software through a computer, computer system, or computer network
c.acting in a manner that has an effect substantially similar to the effect of bullying or harassment
Hazing: the imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks, action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student at Preparatory Academy for purposes including, but not limited to, initiation or admission into, or affiliation with, any organization club or activity. Hazing includes, but is not limited to:
I.Pressuring, coercing, or forcing a student into:
a.Violating state or federal law;
b.Consuming any food, liquor, drug, or other substance; or
c.Participating in physical activity that could adversely affect the health or safety of the student.
II.Any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, or exposure to the elements.
Hazing does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective.
The physical location or time of access of a computer-related incident cannot be raised as a defense in any disciplinary action initiated pursuant to this policy.
Expected Behavior
Preparatory Academy, Inc. expects students to conduct themselves with a proper regard for the rights and welfare of other students and school staff. We expect students to respect the educational purpose underlying all school activities. Such behavior is essential to provide each student a safe, secure and effective environment, and the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
The standards for student behavior shall be set cooperatively through interaction among students, parents/guardians, staff and community members, producing an atmosphere that encourages students to grow in self-discipline. The development of such an atmosphere requires respect for self, others, and community on the part of students, staff, and community members. School administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers serve as role models for students and are expected to demonstrate appropriate behavior, treating others with civility and respect, and refusing to tolerate harassment or bullying.
Consequences
Consequences and appropriate remedial action for students who commit acts of bullying or harassment range from positive behavioral interventions up to and including suspension or expulsion.
Procedure for Reporting
Any student or student's parent/guardian who believes she/he has been or is the victim of bullying or harassment should immediately report the situation to the school principal.
Complaints against the principal should be filed with a member of the school board.
All school employees are required to report alleged violations of this policy to the principal or as described above. All other members of the school community, including students, parents, volunteers, and visitors, are encouraged to report any act that may be a violation of this policy to the principal or as described above.
Written and oral reports shall be considered official reports. Reports may be made anonymously, but formal disciplinary action may not be based solely on an anonymous report. A victim of bullying and/or harassment, anyone who witnessed the act, and anyone who has credible information that an act of bullying and/or harassment has taken place may file a report.
Parent Notification
The principal shall report the occurrence of an incident of bullying, as defined, to the parent/guardian of students known to be involved in the incident on the same day an investigation of the incident has been initiated. Notification shall be consistent with the student privacy rights under applicable provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). According to the level of infraction, the victim's parents will be notified of actions being taken to protect the child; the frequency of notification will depend on the seriousness of the bullying or harassment incident. The principal shall document the date of the notification to the parent/guardian.
Immunity
A school employee, school volunteer, students, parent/guardian, or other persons who promptly reports in good faith an act of bullying or harassment to the appropriate school official and who makes this report in compliance with the procedures is immune from a cause of action for damages arising out of the reporting itself or any failure to remedy the reported incident.
Submission of a good faith complaint or report of bullying or harassment will not affect the complainant or reporter's future employment, grades, learning or working environment, or work assignments. Such immunity from liability shall not apply to any school employee, school volunteer, student, parent/guardian, or other person determined to have made an intentionally false report about harassment, intimidation, and/or bullying.
Student Behavior: Bullying and Cyber-Bullying (8/8/2020)
Preparatory Academy is committed to providing a community that is safe, secure, and free from bullying and harassment for all students, employees, and volunteers. We will not tolerate bullying and harassment. Conduct that constitutes bullying and harassment is prohibited.
The following definitions are intended to provide guidance in assessing whether a behavior is prohibited. These definitions are not exhaustive in their scope and are not intended to replace the intuition of the individual. When in doubt, we urge you to rule on the side of caution and report your concerns to the appropriate authority, as provided for in this policy.
Definitions
Bullying includes "cyberbullying" and means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students, volunteers or employees. Bullying is defined as any unwanted and repeated written, verbal, or physical behavior, including any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, by an adult or student, that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause discomfort or humiliation; or unreasonably interfere with the individual's school performance or participation; and may involve:
I.teasing
II.threats
III.intimidation
IV.stalking
V.cyberstalking
VI.physical violence
VII.theft
VIII.sexual, socio, religious, or racial harassment
IX.public or private humiliation
X.destruction of property
XI.hazing
XII.social exclusion.
Cyberbullying: bullying using technology or any electronic communication, which includes, but is not limited to:
I.creation of a webpage or weblog in which the creator assumes the identity of another person
II.impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages, if the creation or impersonation creates any of the conditions enumerated in the definition of bullying.
III.distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons, if the distribution or posting creates any of the conditions enumerated in the definition of bullying
“Electronic communication” may include, but is not limited to any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, or data intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic system, photoelectronic system, or photo optical system, including, but not limited to
i.electronic mail
ii.phone communications
iii.Internet communications
iv.instant messages
v.facsimile communications
Cyberstalking: the repeated use of electronic communications to harass, isolate, humiliate, frighten or attempt to control someone. It may also include attempting to gather information about another person without their knowledge/consent or monitoring someone’s actions.
Harassment: any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, use of data or computer software, or written, verbal or physical conduct directed against a student or school employee that:
I.places a student or school employee in reasonable fear of harm to his/her person or damage to his/her property;
II.has the effect of substantially interfering with a student's educational performance, opportunities, or benefits; or
III.has the effect of substantially disrupting the orderly operation of a school.
Electronically communications: acts that a student or a group of students exhibits toward another student or group which:
I.causes mental or physical harm to the other student(s)
II.is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for the other student(s)
Bullying and harassment also encompass:
I.Retaliation against a student or school employee by another student or school employee for reporting an act of bullying of harassment.
a.Reporting an act of bullying or harassment that is not made in good faith is considered retaliation.
II.Continuation of conduct listed in the definition of bullying and/or harassment by an individual or group with intent to demean, dehumanize, embarrass, or cause emotional or physical harm to a student or school employee by:
a.incitement or coercion
b.accessing or knowingly and willingly causing or providing access to data or computer software through a computer, computer system, or computer network
c.acting in a manner that has an effect substantially similar to the effect of bullying or harassment
Hazing: the imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks, action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student at Preparatory Academy for purposes including, but not limited to, initiation or admission into, or affiliation with, any organization club or activity. Hazing includes, but is not limited to:
I.Pressuring, coercing, or forcing a student into:
a.Violating state or federal law;
b.Consuming any food, liquor, drug, or other substance; or
c.Participating in physical activity that could adversely affect the health or safety of the student.
II.Any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, or exposure to the elements.
Hazing does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective.
The physical location or time of access of a computer-related incident cannot be raised as a defense in any disciplinary action initiated pursuant to this policy.
Expected Behavior
Preparatory Academy, Inc. expects students to conduct themselves with a proper regard for the rights and welfare of other students and school staff. We expect students to respect the educational purpose underlying all school activities. Such behavior is essential to provide each student a safe, secure and effective environment, and the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
The standards for student behavior shall be set cooperatively through interaction among students, parents/guardians, staff and community members, producing an atmosphere that encourages students to grow in self-discipline. The development of such an atmosphere requires respect for self, others, and community on the part of students, staff, and community members. School administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers serve as role models for students and are expected to demonstrate appropriate behavior, treating others with civility and respect, and refusing to tolerate harassment or bullying.
Consequences
Consequences and appropriate remedial action for students who commit acts of bullying or harassment range from positive behavioral interventions up to and including suspension or expulsion.
Procedure for Reporting
Any student or student's parent/guardian who believes she/he has been or is the victim of bullying or harassment should immediately report the situation to the school principal.
Complaints against the principal should be filed with a member of the school board.
All school employees are required to report alleged violations of this policy to the principal or as described above. All other members of the school community, including students, parents, volunteers, and visitors, are encouraged to report any act that may be a violation of this policy to the principal or as described above.
Written and oral reports shall be considered official reports. Reports may be made anonymously, but formal disciplinary action may not be based solely on an anonymous report. A victim of bullying and/or harassment, anyone who witnessed the act, and anyone who has credible information that an act of bullying and/or harassment has taken place may file a report.
Parent Notification
The principal shall report the occurrence of an incident of bullying, as defined, to the parent/guardian of students known to be involved in the incident on the same day an investigation of the incident has been initiated. Notification shall be consistent with the student privacy rights under applicable provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). According to the level of infraction, the victim's parents will be notified of actions being taken to protect the child; the frequency of notification will depend on the seriousness of the bullying or harassment incident. The principal shall document the date of the notification to the parent/guardian.
Immunity
A school employee, school volunteer, students, parent/guardian, or other persons who promptly reports in good faith an act of bullying or harassment to the appropriate school official and who makes this report in compliance with the procedures is immune from a cause of action for damages arising out of the reporting itself or any failure to remedy the reported incident.
Submission of a good faith complaint or report of bullying or harassment will not affect the complainant or reporter's future employment, grades, learning or working environment, or work assignments. Such immunity from liability shall not apply to any school employee, school volunteer, student, parent/guardian, or other person determined to have made an intentionally false report about harassment, intimidation, and/or bullying.