St. James Academy is committed to providing a Catholic, Christ-centered environment for all students, employees, volunteers, and patrons in which Christian behaviors are ever-present. This Catholic environment will be free from harassment, intimidation or bullying. If any such behaviors do occur, all community members will be able to tell and know that the incident is unacceptable and will be dealt with effectively in a Christ-like way.
Definition: “Harassment, intimidation or bullying” means any intentional written, electronic, verbal, or physical act that harms a student or damages a school’s property; has the effect of substantially interfering with a student’s education; is so severe, persistent or pervasive that it creates an intimidating or threatening educational environment; or has the effect of substantially disrupting the orderly operation of the school.
Harassment, intimidation or bullying can take many forms, including exclusion, teasing, slurs, rumors, jokes, innuendos, demeaning comments, drawing cartoons, pranks, gestures, physical attacks, threats, or other written, oral or physical actions. “Intentional acts” refers to the individual’s choice to engage in the act rather than the ultimate impact of the action.
Counseling, corrective action and/or referral to law enforcement will be used to change the behavior of the perpetrator and remediate the impact on the victim. This includes appropriate intervention(s), restoration of a positive Christ-like environment, and support for victims and others impacted by the violation. False reports of, or retaliation for reporting, harassment, intimidation, or bullying also constitutes violations of this policy.
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St. James Academy will communicate with all students, employees, volunteers and patrons that bullying behaviors (including cyber-bullying) will not be tolerated.
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Bullying (including cyber-bullying) prevention lessons will be taught regularly through classroom activities.
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School rules are posted.
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All staff will support the teachings of Jesus and Christ-like behaviors.
Procedures:
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Report of incident is made to a trusted adult (can be via online reporting form)
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The incident is reviewed and appropriate measures are taken to correct the situation.
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Reconciliation of students is the goal.
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Each incident will be monitored to ensure repeat offenses do not occur.
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If such incident reoccurs, measures taken are at the discretion of the school’s disciplinary committee, external discipline review committee, and/or the principal.
