If you would like to report bullying anonymously, please click here.

The Sherman 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 Sherman ISD School Board has adopted policies and administrative procedures that:

• prohibit bullying;
• prohibit retaliation against any person, witness, or another person who in good faith provides information regarding bullying;
• 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;
• establish the actions a student should take to obtain assistance and intervention in response to bullying;
• set out available counseling options for a student who is a victim of, is a witness to, or engages in bullying;
• 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;
• 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
• require that the discipline of a student with disabilities for bullying complies with federal law, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

To effectively address bullying and cyber-bullying, parents and students must be partners with District administrators. Only by working together will we be able to reduce the incidents of bullying in our schools.

What is Bullying?

Bullying means a single significant act or a pattern of acts by one or more students directed at another student that exploits an imbalance of power and involves engaging in written or verbal expression, expression through electronic means, or physical conduct that:

• has the effect or will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s person or of damage to the student’s property;
• is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive enough that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student;
• materially and student disrupts the educational process or the orderly operation of a classroom or school; or
• infringes on the rights of the victim at school, and includes cyberbullying.

This applies to:

• bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property;
• bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity; and
• cyberbullying that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school-related activity if the cyberbullying:
• Interferes with a student’s educational opportunities; or
• substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom, school, or school-sponsored or school-related activity.

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying means bullying that is done through the use of any electronic communication device, including through the use of a cellular or other type of telephone, a computer, electronic mail, instant messaging, text messaging, a social media application, or any other Internet-based communication tool.

This applies to:

• bullying that occurs on or is delivered to school property or to the site of a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school property;
• bullying that occurs on a publicly or privately owned school bus or vehicle being used for transportation of students to or from school or a school-sponsored or school-related activity; and
• cyberbullying that occurs off school property or outside of a school-sponsored or school related activity if the cyberbullying:
  • Interferes with a student’s educational opportunities; or
  • substantially disrupts the orderly operation of a classroom.

Click Here To Report Bullying