Bullying (All Grade Levels) (Pg 33 VAISD Student Handbook)

The district strives to prevent bullying, in accordance with the district’s policies, by promoting a
positive school culture; building healthy relationships between students and staff; encouraging
reporting of bullying incidents, including anonymous reporting; and investigating and
addressing reported bullying incidents.

Bullying is defined in state law as a single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more
students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging
in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that:

● Has the effect or will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a
student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s
person or of damage to the student’s property

● Is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an
intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student
● Materially and substantially disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of
a classroom or school

● Infringes on the rights of the victim at school

Bullying includes cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined in state law as bullying that is done
using any electronic communication device, including:

● A cellular or other type of telephone
● A computer
● A camera
● Electronic mail
● Instant messaging
● Text messaging
● A social media application
● An internet website
● Any other internet-based communication tool
Bullying is prohibited by the district and could include:
● Hazing
● Threats
● Taunting
● Teasing
● Confinement
● Assault
● Demands for money
● Destruction of property
● Theft of valued possessions
● Name-calling
● Rumor-spreading
● Ostracism

 

The district will integrate into instruction research-based content designed to reduce bullying
that is appropriate for students’ age groups.

 

Students in elementary grades will participate in:
● Instruction designed so that students can recognize bullying behaviors and how to
report them
● Age-appropriate discussions that encourage peers to intervene when they observe
bullying occur
● Instruction that characterizes bullying as a behavior that results from the student’s need
to acquire more mature social or coping skills, not an unchangeable trait
Students in secondary grades will participate in:
● Instruction on the brain’s ability to change and grow so the student recognizes bullying
behavior can come from a developmental need to acquire more social skills, can change
when the brain matures and learns better ways of coping, and is not an unchangeable
trait
● Discussions that portray bullying as undesirable behavior and a means for attaining or
maintaining social status at school, and that discourage students from using bullying as a
tool for social status
● Instruction designed so that students recognize the role that reporting bullying
behaviors plays in promoting a safe school community

The district will use an age-appropriate survey about school culture that includes relevant
questions on bullying to identify and address student concerns.

Each campus has a committee that addresses bullying by focusing on prevention efforts and
health and wellness initiatives. The committee will include parents and secondary students. For
more information on this committee, including interest in serving on the committee, contact
the campus principal.

If a student believes that they have experienced bullying or witnessed the bullying of another
student, the student or parent should notify a teacher, school counselor, principal, or another
district employee as soon as possible. Any district employee aware of a report of a bullying
incident will relay the report to an appropriate administrator. Procedures for reporting
allegations of bullying may be found on the district’s website.

A student may anonymously report an alleged incident of bullying through the STOPit app.
The administration will investigate any allegations of bullying and related misconduct. The
district will also provide notice to the parent of the alleged victim and the parent of the student
alleged to have engaged in bullying.

If an investigation determines that bullying occurred, the administration will take appropriate
disciplinary action and may, in certain circumstances, notify law enforcement. Disciplinary or
other action may be taken even if the conduct did not meet the definition of bullying.

The district will provide research-based interventions, which may include counseling options,
for students who engage in bullying behaviors, students who are targeted by bullying behaviors,
and any student who witnessed bullying behaviors.

Any action taken in response to bullying will comply with state and federal law regarding
students with disabilities.

Any retaliation against a student who reports an incident of bullying is prohibited.
Upon recommendation of the administration, the board may transfer a student found to have
engaged in bullying to another classroom at the campus. In consultation with the student’s
parent, the board may transfer the student to another campus in the district.

The parent of a student who has been determined to be a victim of bullying may request that
the student be transferred to another classroom or campus within the district. [See Safety
Transfers/Assignments]

A copy of the district’s bullying policy is available in the principal’s office, superintendent’s
office, and on the district’s website, and is included at the end of this handbook as an appendix.
A student or parent who is dissatisfied with the outcome of an investigation may appeal
through policy FNG(LOCAL).

[See Safety Transfers/Assignments, Dating Violence, Discrimination, Harassment, and
Retaliation (All Grade Levels), Hazing (All Grade Levels), policy FFI, the district’s Student Code
of Conduct, and the district improvement plan, a copy of which can be viewed in the campus
office.]