Current through Register Vol. 34, No. 24, December 19, 2023
A. By January 1,
2020, each local school board or governing body shall adopt and enforce
policies to:
(1) prevent bullying and
cyberbullying:
(a) on its property, including
electronic communication on or with the use of its property;
(b) at school or district-sponsored events;
and
(c) on any school-sponsored
transportation; and
(2)
prohibit electronic communication directed at a student that is published with
the intent that it be seen by or disclosed to that student and that
substantially interferes with the student's ability to participate in or
benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by the public
school.
B. Each local
school board and governing body shall control the content of its policy,
provided that the policy includes:
(1) the
definitions as set forth in this rule;
(2) a statement prohibiting
bullying;
(3) a statement
prohibiting retaliation against persons who report or witness incidents of
bullying;
(4) a list of
consequences, exclusive of suspension and expulsion, that can result from an
incident of bullying, and with consequences that are designed to:
(a) appropriately correct the bullying
behavior;
(b) prevent another
occurrence of bullying or retaliation;
(c) protect the target of the
bullying;
(d) be flexible so that,
in application, the consequences can vary in method and severity based on:
(i) the nature of the incident;
(ii) the developmental age and/or cognitive
level of the student who is bullying; and
(iii) historical problem behavior from the
student who is bullying; and
(e) limit the restrictive nature of
consequences for cyberbullying incidents, such that while correcting
cyberbullying behavior and preventing further incidents of cyberbullying, a
student with cyberbullying behavior is able to participate in or benefit from
the services, activities, or privileges provided by the school to the greatest
extent possible;
(5) a
procedure for reporting bullying and for reporting retaliation for reporting an
act of bullying, including:
(a) an allowance
for reporting orally and in the preferred language of the person
reporting;
(b) a method for
anonymous reporting; provided that no formal disciplinary measures shall be
taken solely on the basis of an anonymous report of an actual bullying
incident; and
(c) a method for
parents to file written reports of suspected bullying; and
(6) a procedure for prompt investigation of
reports of violations of the bullying prevention policy and of complaints of
bullying or retaliation, including:
(a)
designation of a school or district administrator who has the responsibility
to:
(i) investigate or supervise the
investigation of all reports of bullying and
(ii) to ensure that investigations are
completed promptly after the receipt of any report made under this
rule;
(b) a procedure
for notification of the parents of the student alleged to have committed an act
of bullying and the parents of the student targeted by the alleged act;
provided that if, in the administrator's professional opinion, notifying the
parents would endanger the health or well-being of a student, the administrator
may delay such notification as appropriate;
(c) a requirement that school employees who
witness bullying or who receive reports of bullying notify the designated
administrator within two calendar days of the employee witnessing or receiving
a report of bullying;
(d) an appeal
process for a student who is accused of bullying or who is the target of
bullying and who is unsatisfied with the outcome of the initial investigation;
and
(e) development of a student
safety support plan for students who are targets of bullying that addresses
safety measures the school will take to protect targeted students against
further acts of bullying.
C. Each local school board and governing body
shall include bullying prevention policies and procedures for reporting
bullying in student handbooks using developmentally and culturally appropriate
language. Policies shall be produced and disseminated in appropriate languages
in any school district in which a substantial portion of the student population
speaks a language other than English at home.
D. Each public school shall document reports
and investigations of bullying and shall maintain those records for no less
than four years.
E. Each local
school board or governing body shall establish procedures for public schools to
report the number of bullying incidents and the number of harassment incidents,
as defined by federal or state law, along with responses to these incidents,
and shall report this information annually to the department at such time as
determined by the department and through the department's student teacher
accountability reporting or through other means as determined by the
department.
6.12.7.8 NMAC - N,
11-30-06; A, 05-15-14, Adopted by
New
Mexico Register, Volume 30, Issue 21, November 12, 2019, eff.
11/12/2019
