New School Rules on Bias Bullying - NYTimes.com: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced regulations on Wednesday that are meant to combat bullying in city schools that is based on bias.
“Simply put, there is just no place for prejudice or hate or bullying in our schools,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who was joined by Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein as he announced the rules.
The policy is intended to deter intimidation and harassment based on ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
Every principal will be required to designate a staff member to whom students can report bullying, and schools will be required to report complaints to the Department of Education within 24 hours.
The schools will have to investigate the complaints and contact the families of students accused of bias-based harassment.
A report of the complaints, broken down by school, will be made public on the Internet at the end of each school year.
“I’ve often said that you can’t manage a problem unless you can measure it,” the mayor said.
The rules were prompted in part by attacks on Sikh students in the last school year. In one of the most serious cases, on June 3, a Queens high school student punched a Sikh schoolmate in the face and tried to remove his religiously mandated turban.
