What N.J. law dictates schools should do to crack down on bullying
The high-profile case of a South Jersey girl who died by suicide after allegedly asking school officials to protect her from bullying by classmates raised questions about how such cases are handled.
After a South Jersey student died by suicide earlier this year following relentless bullying by her classmates, her family brought a lawsuit against the district and its administrators, accusing them of failing to protect her.
The principal at F.W. Holbein School in Mount Holly hasn’t commented on the death of 11-year-old Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, which has raised many questions from parents and community members: What responsibility does a school have when it comes to reporting and preventing bullying?
» READ MORE: An 11-year-old who died by suicide was relentlessly bullied at her South Jersey school, a lawsuit says
This is how regulations work in New Jersey, which has among the toughest anti-bullying laws in the country:
What is considered bullying and how does New Jersey address it?
New Jersey, among states with the toughest anti-bullying laws in the country, prohibits harassment, intimidation, or bullying, defined as any gesture; any written, verbal, or physical act; or any electronic communication that is motivated either by an actual or perceived characteristic such as race, religion, or sexual orientation; a mental, physical, or sensory disability; or by any other distinguishing characteristic.
Known as the Anti-Bullying Rights Act (ABR) — authorized in 2011, amended in 2022, and updated in July — it requires all schools to adopt anti-bullying policies for prevention, intervention, and remediation when on school property, at school-sponsored functions, and on school buses.
Every district must adopt a policy on harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB), post it on the district website homepage, and distribute it annually to parents and guardians.
Districts must create school safety or anti-bullying teams and implement activities such as “respect week” to include lessons on preventing bullying and provide for anonymous reporting, as many victims and witnesses are often afraid to make reports out of fear of retaliation. Training must be provided to teachers and support staff.
What is required of school districts?
Every act of suspected bullying must be investigated by a school district.
The suspected act must be reported at least orally to the school principal the same day in which any staffer learns of it. As soon as possible, the principal must notify the parents of the children involved by phone or letter, and a written report must be submitted to the principal within two days. In some cases, the principal may discuss available counseling and other services with parents of affected students.
Within one day of the report, the school’s anti-bullying specialist must begin an investigation to be completed within 10 days, with the findings reported to the principal.
The findings should then be reported to the chief school administrator or superintendent who may impose discipline; provide intervention services; create training programs to reduce harassment, intimidation, or bullying; improve school climate and make the school safer; mandate counseling; or take any other actions necessary to address the act or reduce occurrences in the schools.
Is bullying tracked outside the school district?
After the bullying investigation has been completed, the superintendent must report the results to the local board of education by its next meeting. And twice each school year, the superintendent must report at a public hearing all acts of violence, vandalism, harassment, intimidation, or bullying that occurred during the previous reporting period to the local school board.
The report must include the number of reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, the status of all investigations, the nature of the bullying, the names of the investigators, any discipline imposed, training conducted, and any programs implemented. The information must also be reported to the state Department of Education.
How are parents included in the investigation?
Within five school days after the results of the investigation are reported to the board of education, the school district must provide the parents of the bullied child with information about the investigation.
Parents have a right to know the type of investigation conducted, whether the district found evidence of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, or whether any discipline was imposed or services provided to address the bullying.
Because of student privacy laws, parents are permitted to access only their child’s education records and not those of other students.
What are parents’ legal options?
Parents who are unsatisfied with the investigation findings or any actions taken by the school or district may request a hearing with the school board to appeal; it must be held within 10 days of the parents’ request.
The board must render a decision in writing to uphold, reject or modify the action, after which the board’s decision may be appealed within 90 days to the state commissioner of education.
Parents may also contact their county office of education or the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights if they believe that the alleged bullying violates the state’s anti-discrimination laws. Parents should contact local police if they believe their child’s safety is in danger.
Are anti-bullying advocates happy with how the system is working?
Diane Sammons, a lawyer with Nagel Rice in Roseland, who filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the family of Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez, believes that changes to the law are needed.
Her firm reached a $9.1 million settlement in July with the Rockaway Township School District in Morris County involving the case of a 12-year-old girl who was relentlessly cyberbullied and died by suicide. It was the largest settlement of a bullying case in New Jersey history.
Sammons wants an audit system for districts that self-report bullying cases because she believes the numbers are underreported.
She also wants districts to implement a kid-friendly anonymous reporting system that allows students to report acts using their cell phones. She wants the state to ease immunity statutes that make it difficult for parents to sue districts, and impose criminal penalties for the parents of children who bully their peers.
Where can I learn more?
For more information on how the law works, go to the New Jersey Department of Education’s “Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying” website.
For questions about your school district’s police on harassment, intimidation, and bullying, contact the district’s anti-bullying coordinator or the anti-bullying specialist in your child’s school.
For questions about the state’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights (ABR) or regulations and requirements related to HIB, contact the Office of Student Support Services at hib@doe.nj.gov or call 609-376-9109.