Reporting Violence, Vandalism, Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse
8461
The Board of Education shall observe “School Violence Awareness Week” during the week beginning with the third Monday in October of each year by organizing activities to prevent school violence. Activities shall include but are not limited to, age-appropriate opportunities for student discussion on conflict resolution, issues of student diversity, and tolerance. The Board shall invite law enforcement personnel to join members of the teaching staff in the discussions and provide programs for school employees that are designed to help them recognize warning signs of school violence and to instruct them on recommended conduct during an incident of school violence. The Board of Education shall disseminate to students’ parents an informational pamphlet prepared by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) on how a parent can limit a child’s exposure to violence on television, cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices, on an annual basis pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:40-44.
In accordance with N.J.A.C. 6A:16-5.3 any school employee who observes or has direct knowledge from a participant or victim of an act of violence; including harassment, intimidation, and bullying; or the possession or distribution of alcohol or other drugs on school grounds, and any school employee who reports a student for being under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, according to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 18A:40A-12 and N.J.A.C. 6A:16-4.3, shall file a report describing the incident to the school Principal, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46. The report shall be on a form adopted by the Board to include all of the incident detail and offender and victim information that are reported on the Student Safety Data System (SSDS).
A report alleging an incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying shall be made in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 18A:37-13.1 and Policy 5512.
The Building Principal, for each incident of violence; including harassment, intimidation, and bullying, vandalism, and alcohol and other drug offenses, shall review the incident report for accuracy; forward a copy of the incident report to the Superintendent; and notify the Superintendent of the action taken regarding the incident. The Board shall not discharge or subject to any manner of discrimination any school employee who files a report pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:16-5.3.
The majority representative of the school employees’ bargaining units shall have access monthly to the number and disposition of all reported acts of school violence, including harassment, intimidation, and bullying, and vandalism, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46. Personally identifying information may be provided to the majority representative of the school employees’ bargaining units only in instances when school administrators have reason to believe that the safety of a school staff member is at risk.
Twice each school year, once between September 1 and January 1 and once between January 1 and June 30, the Superintendent shall report to the Board at a public meeting all acts of violence, including harassment, intimidation, and bullying, vandalism, and alcohol and other drug offenses that occurred during the previous reporting period, according to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46 and N.J.A.C. 6A:16-5.3. The report shall include the number of reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, the status of all investigations, the nature of the bullying based on one of the protected categories identified in section 2 of P.L.2002, c.83 (C.18A:37-14), the names of the investigators, the type and nature of any discipline imposed on any student engaged in harassment, intimidation, or bullying, and any other measures imposed, training conducted, or programs implemented, to reduce harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The information shall also be reported once during each reporting period to the NJDOE. The report must include data broken down by the enumerated categories as listed in section 2 of P.L.2002, c.83 (C.18A:37-14), and data broken down by each school in the district, in addition to district-wide data. It shall be a violation to improperly release any confidential information not authorized by Federal or State law for public release.
The report shall be used to grade each school for the purpose of assessing its effort to implement policies and programs consistent with the provisions of P.L. 2002, c.83 (C.18A:37-13 et seq.). The district shall receive a grade determined by averaging the grades of all the schools in the district. The Commissioner shall promulgate guidelines for a program to grade schools for the purposes of N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46. The grade received by a school and the district shall be posted on the homepage of the school’s website. The grade for the district and each school of the district shall be posted on the homepage of the district’s website. A link to the report shall be available on the district’s website. The information shall be posted on the websites within ten days of the receipt of a grade by the school and district.
Whenever it is alleged a school employee has knowingly falsified reported information on acts of violence or vandalism, or any incident included in the annual report on violence and vandalism required under N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46, the Board shall make a determination regarding whether the employee committed the act. The Board shall provide written notice of the allegations to the employee and the employee shall be entitled to a hearing before the Board in accordance with the provisions of N.J.A.C. 6A:16-5.3(f). Upon a determination by the Board that an employee has knowingly falsified reported information, the Board may take appropriate action.
The Board of Education shall submit and implement corrective action plans for high incidences of violence, vandalism, or alcohol or other drug abuse upon notification by the Commissioner of Education.
The Board shall provide ongoing staff training, in cooperation with the NJDOE, in fulfilling the reporting requirements of N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46.
N.J.S.A. 18A:17-46; 18A:36-5.1; 18A:40-44
N.J.A.C. 6A:16-5.2; 6A:16-5.3
Adopted: 26 July 2005
Revised: 30 August 2007
Revised: 26 March 2008
Revised: 2 March 2010
Revised: 25 August 2011
Revised: 25 July 2019