| West Clermont Local School District |
| Administrative Guidelines |
4362A - REPORTING THREATENING BEHAVIORS
Threatening behavior may take different forms including, but not limited to, the following:
| A. | face-to-face encounters in which words are used that indicate to the staff member that his/her safety and well-being are in jeopardy | |
| B. | any conduct or written/oral communications that include comments toward the staff member or his/her family which would imply or state explicitly that the staff member and/or his/her family may be subject to some form of physical or psychological abuse or violence | |
| C. | written or spoken comments to a staff member which could subject him/her to blackmail or extortion | |
| D. | written or spoken communication that would imply or explicitly state that some form of damage may be done to the staff member's property or that of his/her family |
Any staff member who believes that s/he is the victim of any of the above actions or has observed such actions taken by a student, parent, fellow staff member, supervisor, co-worker, or other person associated with the District such as a vendor, contractor, volunteer, or school official should take promptly the following steps:
| A. | If the alleged threatener is the staff member's supervisor, the affected employee should, as soon as possible after the incident, contact the Superintendent. | |
| B. | If the alleged threatener is not the staff member's supervisor, the affected staff member should, as soon as possible after the incident, contact his/her supervisor. | |
| C. | If the alleged threatener is a student of the District, the supervisor, if not the student's principal, should immediately inform the student's principal of the alleged threat. |
The staff member may make contact either by a written report or by telephone or personal visit. During this contact, the reporting staff member should provide the name of the person(s) whom s/he believes to be responsible for the harassment and the nature of the harassing incident(s). A written summary of each such report is to be prepared promptly by the staff member receiving the report and forwarded to the Director of Human Resources.
Each report received by the supervisor or Director of Human Resources as provided above, shall be investigated in a timely and confidential manner. While a charge is under investigation, no information is to be released to anyone who is not involved with the investigation, except as may be required by law or in the context of a legal or administrative proceeding. No one involved is to discuss the matter outside of the investigation.
The purpose of this provision is to:
| A. | protect the confidentiality of the staff member who files a complaint; | |
| B. | encourage the reporting of any incidents of threat; | |
| C. | protect the reputation of any party wrongfully charged with threatening conduct. |
Investigation of a complaint will normally include conferring with the parties involved and any named or apparent witnesses. All staff members and others involved are to be protected from coercion, intimidation, retaliation, or discrimination for filing a complaint or assisting in an investigation.
If the investigation reveals that the complaint is valid, then appropriate, remedial, and/or disciplinary action will be taken immediately to prevent the continuance of the threat or its recurrence.
The District recognizes that determining whether a particular action or incident is a threat must be based on all of the facts in the matter. Given the nature of this type of intimidation, the District recognizes that false accusations of threat can have serious effects on innocent individuals. Accordingly, all staff members are expected to act responsibly, honestly, and with the utmost candor whenever they present threat allegations or charges against fellow staff members, students, or others associated with the District.