4331 - Assaults Threats and Harassment ## Assaults, Threats ## And Harassment
The Avery County Board of Education will not tolerate assaults, threats or harassment from any student. Any student engaging in such behavior will be removed from the classroom or school environment for as long as necessary to ensure a safe and orderly environment for learning.
A. Prohibited Behavior
- Assault
Students are prohibited from assaulting, physically injuring, attempting to injure or intentionally behaving in such a way as could reasonably cause injury to any other person. Assault includes engaging in a fight.
- Threatening Acts Students are prohibited from directing toward any other person any language that threatens force, violence or disruption, or any sign or act that constitutes a threat of force, violence or disruption.
Bomb and terrorist threats are also addressed in policy 4333, Weapons, Bomb Threats, Terrorist Threats and Clear Threats to Safety.
- Harassment Students are prohibited from engaging in or encouraging any form of harassment, including bullying and cyberbullying of students, employees or other individuals on school grounds or at school-related functions, and at any time or place when the behavior has a direct and immediate effect on maintaining order and discipline in the schools. Harassment is unwanted, unwelcome and uninvited behavior that demeans, threatens, or offends the victim and results in a hostile environment for the victim. The hostile environment may be created through pervasive or persistent misbehavior or a single incident if sufficiently severe.
Harassment and bullying are further defined in policy 7230-1710-4021 Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying, Complaints of harassment will be investigated pursuant to policy 7225-1720-4015 Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Complaint Procedure. For incidents of misbehavior that do not rise to the level of harassment, see policy 4310, Integrity and Civility, which establishes the expectation that students will demonstrate civility and integrity in their interactions with others.
B. Consequences
The disciplinary consequences for violations of this policy shall be consistent with Section D of policy 4300, Student Behavior Policies. The superintendent or designee shall list in the Code of Student Conduct the specific range of consequences that may be imposed on a student for violations of this policy.
A student who is long-term suspended or reassigned to alternative education services as a result of assaulting or injuring a teacher shall not return to that teacher's classroom without the teacher's consent.
A student who is convicted under G.S. 14-458.2 of cyberbullying a school employee will be transferred to another school. If there is no other appropriate school within the school system, the student will be transferred to a different class or assigned to a teacher who was not involved as a victim of the cyberbullying. The superintendent may modify the required transfer of an individual student on a case-by-case basis and shall provide a written statement of this modification in the student’s record.
Legal Reference: G.S. 14 -33, 34 through -34.2; -458.2; 115C-47, -276(r), -288, -307, -366.4, - 390.2, -390.7
Cross Reference: Prohibition Against Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying (policy 7230)-1710-4021 Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Compliant Procedure (policy 7225)-1720-4015 Student Behavior Policies (policy 4300), Integrity and Civility (policy 4310), Weapons, Bomb Threats, Terrorist Threats and Clear Threats to Safety (policy 4333), Adopted: 2001-12-03 Revised: 2007-09-26 2008-12-08 2011-09-13 2013-06-11