Skip to main content

Bullying Reporting Procedures

Florence Independent School District
Bullying Reporting Procedures

Florence ISD strives to ensure a safe and supportive environment for its school community.   Florence ISD expects that all members of the school community treat each other with courtesy and respect, and the district is committed to providing a learning and working environment for students, employees, and visitors that is free from bullying and cyberbullying. 

Bullying is defined in Section 37.0832 of the Education Code 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 the student;
  • Materially and substantially disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a classroom or school; or
  • Infringes on the rights of the victim at school.

Bullying includes cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined by Section 37.0832 of the Education Code as bullying that is done through the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, a camera, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, an Internet website, or any other Internet-based communication tool.

The district is required to adopt policies and procedures regarding:

· Bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property;

· Bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity; and

· Cyberbullying that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the cyberbullying interferes with a student’s educational opportunities or substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related activity.

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, or ostracism.

If a student believes that he or she has experienced bullying or has witnessed bullying of another student, it is important for the student or parent to notify a teacher, school counselor, principal, or another district employee as soon as possible to obtain assistance and intervention. The administration will investigate any allegations of bullying or other 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 the results of an investigation indicate that bullying has occurred, the administration will take appropriate disciplinary action and may notify law enforcement in certain circumstances. Disciplinary or other action may be taken even if the conduct did not rise to the level of bullying. Available counseling options will be provided to these individuals, as well as to any students who have been identified as witnesses to the bullying.

Any retaliation against a student who reports an incident of bullying is prohibited.

A copy of the district’s policy, FFI (LOCAL), is available in the principal’s office, superintendent’s office, and on the district’s website, and is included at the end of the FISD Student Handbook in the form of an appendix.

 


Elementary School Students: Fill out Form Online and Submit Anonymously
Middle School Students: Fill out Form Online and Submit Anonymously
High School Student: Fill out Form Online and Submit Anonymously