Student Safety

Granite School District is committed to providing a quality education to students in a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment. To this end, the District maintains policies that prohibit conduct that disrupts the learning environment. Please see below for District policies that apply to this disclosure and visit https://www.graniteschools.org/legal/policies/ for all District policies.*

School Safety

Unsafe conduct and disrupting school programing or student activities violates district policies. Among other things, District polices prohibit: threats or acts of violence; possession of real or look-alike weapons, explosive, noxious, or flammable material; gang activity; criminal or disruptive behavior; destruction or defacement of property; willful disobedience or persistent defiance of authority; and possession of illegal drugs, alcohol, or other prohibited substances.

Bullying, Cyberbullying, Hazing, and Retaliation

Bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, and retaliation can also disrupt a student’s right to a respectful school atmosphere. Any bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, retaliation, or related conduct is unacceptable. Administrators, teachers, counselors, social workers, and psychologists in every school are trained to respond to incidents of bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, and retaliation. Generally speaking, bullying, cyberbullying, and hazing have common elements or characteristics:

• an intent to cause distress or harm
• a relationship in which there is an imbalance of power or strength
• repeated acts, words, and gestures (or in some cases, one egregious act) of violence, intimidation, humiliation, or social isolation

Bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, and retaliation may exist in various forms including, but not limited to, physical violence and aggression, verbal or written assaults or attacks, and/or social or psychological isolation, manipulation, or deprecation. Conduct may involve direct and open attacks against a victim, but conduct can also be indirect or subtle in nature (e.g. spreading rumors or enlisting another student to engage in conduct). Bullying, cyberbullying, and particularly hazing may exist in circumstances in which victims or targets acquiesce or consent to the conduct. Bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, and retaliation may also constitute civil rights violations in circumstances where a victim is targeted based on one or more protected classes.

Discrimination and Harassment

Granite School District complies with all civil rights laws and regulations (please see below for a brief description of the federal laws and regulations and contact information for District administrators assigned to administer the laws).† As such, the District prohibits all discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), and retaliation against any individual based on race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity in its educational programs, activities, admissions, access to facilities, or other treatment.

Discriminating or harassing behavior targeted at an individual or group of individuals often takes one or more of the following forms:

• committing aggressive or violent physical acts or making threats of the same
• unwelcome communication, jokes, stories, pictures, gestures, or displays of offensive material
• isolating, humiliating, or demeaning an individual or intentionally excluding from participation in or access to any facilities, programming, activities, employment, or other benefits
• using epithets, slurs, or negative stereotypes or engaging in name calling, verbal abuse, or offensive comments
• creating graffiti, drawings, or other symbolic communication with threating messages, degrading descriptions, or stereotypical caricatures

Sexual harassing behavior can be particularly disruptive. Sexual harassment typically involves offensive or unwelcome sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct or unwelcome communication of a sexual nature targeted at another individual based on that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or conformance/non-conformance with a real or perceived gender or sexual stereotype that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment.

Reporting and Correcting

The best resources for identifying and addressing incidents of unsafe behavior, discrimination, harassment, bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, and retaliation are students and staff. Granite School District provides several avenues for reporting:

• every school posts the contact information of two or more administrators or staff members that
  will receive reports
• many schools have “Buddy Boxes” or other similar locations for making written reports
• the District Safety Hotline is available if students are aware of any dangerous situations involving bullying, weapons, or unsafe behavior – Phone: (801) 481-7199, Text: (801) 664-2929
• students can use the SafeUT application on their phones
• students can make a verbal or written report to any teacher or other staff member

Granite School District will promptly investigate all reports and take appropriate steps to eliminate the offending conduct, address its effects, and prevent it from reoccurring. In addition to making complaints to school administrators, complaints may be filed with a Designated District Official (identified below). The District will attempt to resolve issues working collaboratively with parents, guardians, and patrons at the lowest possible level. If civil rights concerns cannot be resolved at the school or District level, complaints may be filed with the Office for Civil Rights, Region VIII, U.S. Department of Education, Federal Building, Suite 310, 1244 Speer Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80204.

Prohibitions described above shall be enforced for conduct occurring outside of school, school hours, or school-related activities if the conduct materially disrupts the educational environment. Students found in violation of District policies regarding school safety, discrimination, harassment, bullying, cyberbullying, hazing, and retaliation may subject themselves to student discipline including parent/guardian conferences, suspension/expulsion, referral to law enforcement, placement in an alternative program, and/or other consequences and action steps appropriate for the circumstance.

Student Safety Form