West Branch Local School District prohibits the harassment, intimidation, bullying or “cyberbullying” of any student on school property, including school buses/school transportation, or at school sponsored events.
According to Board of Education policy harassment, intimidation and bullying are defined as any written, verbal or physical act directed towards another student that: Causes mental or physical harm to the other student; and is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating threatening, or abusive educational environment for another student.
Students should report incidents of bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, or intimidation to a principal, assistant principal, teacher, counselor or district compliance officer in the school system immediately. All information reported will be confidential.
All administrators in the district have received Title IX training, materials for which are available in the list below. All incidents of harassment, intimidation, bullying or cyberbullying will be investigated by a trained administrative investigator under the direction of one of the district's compliance officers.
Discipline for any substantiated incidents of bullying, harassment, or intimidation will be prescribed in accordance with the appropriate section of the Student Discipline Code. “Cyberbulling" involves the use of information and communication technologies such as email, cell phones, text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal websites, Facebook or other social media accounts, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group that is intended to harm others. To the extent permitted by the First Amendment, instances of cyberbullying off school grounds that disrupt the school environment or interfere with the learning process will be considered violations of the Student Code of Conduct and appropriate consequences will be issued by the Administration. West Branch Local School District considers bullying of any sort to be a very serious concern, and those who report falsely will be issued consequences.
Associated Board of Education Policies
Bullying and other forms of aggressive behavior [5517.01]
Non-Discrimination and Access to Equal Educational Opportunity [2260]
At least semi-annually, incidents of bullying must be reported on the District website. The list is limited to the number of verified acts of harassment, intimidation and/or bullying, whether in the classroom, on school property, on the way to or from school, or at school-sponsored events.