Harassment and/or bullying of students or employees will not be tolerated in the School District of Crandon. The School Board considers these actions to be detrimental to the health and safety of students and employees and disruptive to the educational environment. For purposes of this policy, harassment and/or bullying are defined as any act or attempted act intended to cause physical injury, emotional suffering or property damage through intimidation, stress, humiliation, bigoted epithets, vandalism, force or threat of any of the above, motivated by, but not limited to hostility toward the victim's real or perceived sex, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, disability/handicap or any other basis protected by state or federal law. Examples of bullying include physical intimidation or assault; extortion; oral or written threats; teasing; putdowns; name calling and threatening looks; retaliating against another student for reporting bullying; gestures or actions; cruel humor; false accusations; and social isolation. It also includes any other behavior that substantially interferes with a student's or employee's school/work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive school or work environment.

It is also the intention of the School District of Crandon to maintain a school and work environment that is free from sexual harassment. Sexually harassing behavior shall not be tolerated from any student of the district. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other inappropriate verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature; remarks to a person with demeaning implications of a sexual nature; unwelcome touching; suggesting or demanding sexual involvement accompanied by implied or explicit threats or promises of reward concerning a student's status, progress or performance in academic or extracurricular matters.

It is the responsibility of administrators, staff members, parents/guardians and all students to ensure that these prohibited activities do not occur. The district expects and will encourage students and parents/guardians who observe or become aware of an act of harassment to report the harassment and/or bullying to the building principal or designee for further investigation.

The district requires staff members who observe or become aware of an act of harassment and/or bullying to take immediate, appropriate steps to intervene. If a staff member believes that his/her intervention has not resolved the matter, or if the bullying and/or harassment persist, he/she shall report the harassment and or bullying to the building principal or designee for further investigation.

If a student or parent is not comfortable with making a complaint to the principal/designee, the complaint may be made to a teacher, counselor, or social worker with the understanding that he/she will report the complaint through proper channels. There shall be no retaliation against students who file complaints under this policy. All complaints shall be investigated in a timely manner.

Cyber bullying involves the use of information and communication technologies such as email, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging (1M), defamatory personal polling web sites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, this intended to harm others (Keith & Martin 2005),

"The school has no duty to regulate or review off-campus Internet messages, statements, postings, or acts" but adds that when those acts "threaten violence against another student or otherwise disrupts the learning environment or orderly conduct of the school, "the school can take action, from conferencing parents and students, to expulsion.”

Students who engage in harassment and/or bullying in violation of this policy and/or retaliating against an individual for reporting harassment and/or bullying shall be subject to school disciplinary measures consistent with district policies and procedures up to and including suspension and/or expulsion.

Notice of this policy will be circulated on an annual basis through employee and student handbooks.

It is important for this policy to respect and ensure the rights of all parties, including the protection of personal privacy interests and the protection of the reputation of all concerned and involved parties. In order to insure fair procedures and to protect these interests, all parties are expected to keep these matters confidential to the extent permitted by law. All investigating and reviewing officers are charged with the responsibility to hold these matters in confidence to the extent permitted by law in order to guard against the necessary or inadvertent disclosure of information relating to any pending charges or investigations.

Students who believe they are the victims of harassment and/or bullying or parent/guardians who believe their child is a victim of harassment and/or bullying, should immediately report their concerns to the principal, social worker, guidance counselor, or teacher. If an adult employee other than the principal receives the complaint, the employee shall forward the complaint to the principal or other administrator for review and action as necessary. The principal or other administrator will compose a written record of any verbal complaints.

Complaints will be taken seriously and will be subject to thorough review and immediate investigation by the receiving office or designee. Time periods are established below for the completion of various actions. In exceptional circumstances, compliance with these time periods may not occur. In that case the reviewing office shall provide prompt notice to concerned parties about the expected time period for completion of required actions.

                                                                                                Approved 11/10/2008

                                                                                                Revised 04/13/2009

                                                                                                Revised 01/10/2011