Board considers policy to prevent harassment, intimidation.
By: Gwen Runkle
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Board of Education will consider a new policy to prevent harassment, intimidation, bullying and hazing tonight.
The policy, currently in draft form, will be up for a first reading at the school board’s 7:30 p.m. meeting at Community Middle School in Plainsboro.
It was crafted in response to a recent state mandate that all school districts have such a policy in place by the fall of 2003.
"This didn’t stem from any particular incident, complaint or reports that we have any significant problem in these areas," said Russ Schumacher, the district’s special assistant of labor relations and affirmative action officer. "There is a new mandate from the state specifying we have a policy on intimidation and bullying. We expanded it to include the hazing piece as well."
According to the policy, harassment, intimidation and bullying are considered any gesture or act that takes place on school property, at a school-sponsored event or on a school bus that is motivated by any actual or perceived characteristics such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or a mental, physical or sensory disability that would harm a student, damage property or insult or demean a student or group of students.
Hazing means performing any act, coercing another or attempting to coerce another to perform any act of initiation into any class, athletic team or any school organization that causes a substantial risk of mental or physical harm.
If a student commits an act of harassment, intimidation, bullying or hazing, several factors must first be weighed before discipline is determined.
The policy states that developmental and maturity levels of the parties involved, the levels of harm, the surrounding circumstances, the nature of the behaviors, past incidences or past or continuing patterns of behavior, the relationships between parties involved and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred all must be considered.
Discipline then could range from "positive behavioral reinforcement up to and including suspension or expulsion."
At each school, the principal or a principal’s designee would be responsible for receiving complaints and investigating whether an alleged act is a violation of the policy.
The policy also stresses that the school district would prohibit reprisals or retaliations against anyone who reports an act of harassment, intimidation, bullying or hazing and would hand out appropriate remedial action for any student found to have made false accusations.
School staff, students and parents are expected to receive a copy of the policy annually from school administrators and information regarding the new policy would be incorporated into employee-training programs, should the policy be approved by the school board.
Age-appropriate bullying-prevention and hazing-prevention programs are also expected to be developed, Mr. Schumacher said.
"With all the stories in the national media right now, including the powder-puff football-game hazing incident in Illinois, and the high school baseball team trip to a strip club in Florida, these issues are on everyone’s minds right now," he added. "This policy is a good starting point to formalize what we already do and make sure these kinds of acts don’t happen here."

