Orange County Grand Jury
• 2011-2012
• Agency Response
Response to:
Garden Grove Unified School District
Irden Grove Unified School District Board of Education*
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 3 findings
F2
New legislation takes effect July 1, 2012, and broadens the definition of "Bullying." Response: The district agrees that AB 1156 provides a broader definition of "bullying" than was contained in prior law.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Recommend all county-wide schools agree upon the same definition of bullying. Response: The district has no legal authority to obligate other school districts. However, it should be noted that the district is required by law to apply the definition of "bullying" contained in Education Code Section 48900(r) in suspending and expelling students. The district also intends to use this definition of "bullying" in tracking complaints of bullying that are sustained.
F3
Education Code Section 234.1 requiring posting of anti-bullying/anti- harassment policies in prescribed areas was not evident in all schools visited. Response: The district cannot comment on what policies are posted in all schools throughout Orange County, but can respond only on behalf of the district itself. Finding 3 combines the requirement to post anti-discrimination/anti-harassment policies in prescribed areas with the requirement to post anti-bullying policies. The requirement for school districts to post their anti-bullying policy in all schools and offices, including staff lounges and pupil government meeting rooms, is new effective July 1, 2012. Thus, the district disagrees with Finding 3 to the extent it reflects on the district's practice in regard to posting its anti-bullying policy in prescribed areas prior to July 1, 2012. (Note: The district Board of Education adopted a policy governing "Bullying" on May 15, 2012. Formal complaints subject to this policy are received and investigated pursuant to the Board of Education policy and administrative regulation governing Uniform Complaint Procedures.) In regard to the finding that the district failed to post its anti-harassment policies in prescribed areas, the district agrees with this finding. Effective for the 2012-13 school year, the required postings of anti-bullying/anti-harassment policies, using the template document provided by the Orange County Department of Education, are completed by the district and posted in the areas prescribed by Education Code Section 234.1.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Each district review standardized procedures to protect a bully victim and bystanders' confidentiality as stated in Education Code section 234.1. Response: Reflecting state law, the issues of retaliation and confidentiality are addressed in the Board of Education policy governing Bullying and the Board policy and administrative regulation governing Uniform Complaint Procedures. As noted in the district's response to Finding 3, formal complaints subject to the district Bullying policy are received and investigated pursuant to the Board policy and administrative regulation governing Uniform Complaint Procedures. All elements of the district Bullying policy and related complaint process were reviewed with all district elementary school principals on August 28, 2012; with all intermediate and high school principals on August 23, 2012; Garden Grove Unified School District and with all intermediate and high school assistant principals on September 17, 2012. District policies governing Bullying, Sexual Harassment, Uniform Complaint Procedures, and Non-Discrimination are described in the district annual Parent-Student Handbook printed in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean. The Handbook is posted on the district website as well as distributed to all parents with an acknowledgement form to be signed and returned to the school.
F4
Based on witness testimony, confidentiality was not maintained in a bullying incident as prescribed in California Education Code section 234.1 Response: The Grand Jury report does not contain sufficient information to enable the district to respond to this finding nor does it identify which school district was involved in the alleged breach of confidentiality; therefore, the district can neither agree nor disagree with this finding. Garden Grove Unified School District
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.