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Bullying

Bullying, Harassment, Threats & Other Incidents

Columbus ISD takes seriously all allegations of bullying, harassment, threats, or other incidents involving CISD students or staff. We have developed this webpage for informational purposes as well as the need to report any such incident.
 
The district’s established Threat Assessment Team along with the Columbus Police Department, school district counselors, nurses, campus and district administrators, are trained and follow state and local law as well as CISD Policy when investigating and responding to any allegations.
 
The Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policies are listed below: 
 
Anti-Bullying policies and procedures were developed in compliance with federal case law, guidance from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and the definition of bullying contained in section §25.0342 of the Texas Education Code. The Columbus Independent School District School Board has adopted a District policy prohibiting “harassment,” which typically addresses many of the behaviors that also constitute bullying. The District’s discrimination, harassment, and retaliation policy is FFH (LOCAL). A bullying policy was also adopted, as demonstrated within board policy FFI (LOCAL).
 
The Columbus ISD School Board is committed to protecting its students and employees from bullying, harassment, or discrimination for any reason and of any type. The School Board believes that all students and employees are entitled to a safe, equitable, and harassment-free school experience. Bullying, discrimination, or harassment, will not be tolerated and shall be just cause for disciplinary action. The Columbus ISD School Board has adopted policies and administrative procedures that:
  1. Prohibit bullying;
  2. Prohibit retaliation against any person, witness, or another person who in good faith provides information regarding bullying;
  3. Establish a procedure for providing notice of an incident of bullying to a parent or guardian of the alleged victim on or before the third business day after the date the incident is reported, and a parent or guardian of the alleged bully within a reasonable amount of time after the incident;
  4. Establish the actions a student should take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying;
  5. Set out available counseling options for a student who is a victim of, is a witness to, or engages in bullying;
  6. Establish procedures for reporting an incident of bullying, including procedures for a student to anonymously report an incident of bullying, investigating a reported incident of bullying, and determining whether the reported incident of bullying occurred;
  7. Prohibit school officials from disciplining a student who is the victim of bullying, for the student’s use of reasonable self-defense in response to bullying; and
  8. Require that the discipline of a student with disabilities for bullying complies with federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).