According to Board of Education Policy 5131.1 and the Antibullying Bill of Rights in order for an incident to be classified as a harassment, intimidation, or bullying the following definition must be met.
Harassment, intimidation or bullying” is defined as 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 grounds, at any school-sponsored function or on a school bus, or off school grounds, in accordance with the law... AND
- that substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students
The event also must meet one of the following areas:
- 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/her person or damage to his/her property; or
- Has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students; or
- Creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with the student’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student.MH