September 21, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 13 Mahwah Anti-bullying policy adopted by Frank J. McMahon The Mahwah Board of Education has adopted a revised “Harassment, Intimidation, and bullying” policy in response to a new state law entitled “The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights” which recently went into effect. The new state law provides additional levels of protection against harassment, intimidation, and bullying, and it contains more than two dozen provisions affecting all levels of K-12 schools. Mahwah Interim Superintendent Karen Lake said the revised policy will create a greater awareness of the problem and place a greater focus on this type of behavior. “I really think people are not aware of what happens to some kids in terms of being bullied and picked on,” Lake said. “This entire policy focuses the district’s efforts on minimizing inappropriate behavior in a school district. “Every school district has instances of bullying but not everyone is aware of it, but some kids really have a rough time with being picked on or made fun of. It could be just someone calling them ‘fatso’ or picking on someone with whom they feel uncomfortable. It doesn’t have to be gender, race, or whatever.” Lake also pointed out that the revised policy also establishes consequences for this behavior. She explained that the consequences can be just sensitivity training to become aware that what one says does hurt people or, as noted in the policy, even suspension or expulsion of pupils, and legal action, disciplinary action, or termination of other persons who commit one or more acts of harassment, intimidation, or bullying. According to Lake, the greater emphasis the policy places on this problem and an increased awareness of the problem will lead to a more nurturing and supportive environment in our schools. “And that ultimately is what we want,” Lake concluded. Under the new law, school officials and educators in the district, from teachers to administrators to board members, must receive training. The district must designate an antibullying coordinator, and each school must have an antibulling specialist and a safety team. The law also establishes a specific process, with strict deadlines, to investigate bullying complaints. There are additional reporting requirements for the district superintendent, who must report at a public hearing all acts of violence, vandalism, and bullying that occurred during the previous reporting period. Harassment, intimidation, and bullying are defined as “any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, as defined in state law, whether it be a single incident or a series of incidents” that meet certain criteria. Those criteria include acts that could reasonably be perceived as being motivated by either any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical, or sensory disability or by any other distinguishing characteristic. The criteria also include any incident that takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, on a school bus, or off school grounds that substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other pupils. Another criteria that determines harassment, intimidation, or bullying is if a reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, that the act or acts will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a pupil or damaging the pupil’s property, or place a pupil in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his or her person or damage to his or her property. In addition, the criteria include any act that has the effect of insulting or demeaning any pupil or group of pupils or creates a hostile educational environment for the pupil by interfering with a pupil’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the pupil. “The board believes that standards for pupil behavior must be set cooperatively through interaction among the (continued on page 25)