Students have the right to feel safe when they attend school, and schools have a responsibility to ensure student safety. If and when students face bullying or harassment at school, however, that sense of safety can vanish.
On average, approximately 20 percent of students are bullied during a school year. When also considering cyberbullying, some research indicates that approximately 50 percent of high school students are victims every year.
Bullying is not just about the act itself but also the fallout for students who are subjected to harassment. Bullying can have lifelong implications for students, from affecting their mental health to impacting their education in the short term and their income and career prospects in the long term. Students who are bullied are more likely to struggle in school or skip classes.
If and when a school fails in its duty to protect a student, families may choose to resort to legal avenues to address the issue. This can begin with formal complaints and continue to filing a lawsuit based on violations of federal or Nevada law.
Your student deserves to go to school and benefit from their education. They deserve to go through their school days free of bullying, harassment, or intimidation. They should be able to report such occurrences and have the school resolve the problem promptly.
If and when your student is being bullied in school, and their school is not reacting to the problem, you need to do what's necessary to protect your student's overall well-being and education. The Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can help. Whether you live in Henderson, Carson City, Elko, or somewhere in between, our team is ready to assist you. We focus on student-centered resolutions. Call us at 888-535-3686 or fill out an online form.
Bullying in Nevada Schools
Statistics on bullying indicate it is, for many students, part of their lives. In the 2019-2020 school year, approximately 20 percent of students reported being bullied in school.
Over half of teenagers, however, report being the victim of cyberbullying. Older teen girls are the most likely to face cyberbullying, including 20 percent of girls between 15 and 17 years of age being harassed due to their physical appearance.
A report from the Washoe County School District parallels these numbers. In the 2022-2023 school year, approximately 50 percent of students in the district reported being bullied, which includes cyberbullying. The report also found that:
- 58 percent of students agree or strongly agree that their classmates use social media to spread rumors about other classmates.
- 45 percent of students were grabbed, shoved, punched, or kicked in the previous year while at school.
- 58 percent of students were cursed at, mocked, or verbally threatened while at school.
Nevada requires both public schools and charter schools to follow the state's laws and regulations on bullying. Private schools' compliance is voluntary.
What is Bullying?
In Nevada, bullying may be physical or written, verbal, or electronic communication. These actions or communications either harm a student or give that student a reasonable fear of harm to themselves or their property. In school settings, bullying creates a hostile educational environment or substantially interferes with a student's academic performance or participation in a school's services, activities, or privileges.
The Nevada Department of Education lists the following behavior or actions as potential bullying:
- Verbal or written communication
- Electronic communication (e.g., cyberbullying)
- Causing physical damage or harm to people or property
- Placing an individual in reasonable fear of harm or damage to themselves or their property
- A single act that is severe and willful
- Repeated or pervasive taunting, name-calling, mocking, or demeaning humor
- In some instances, a criminal act
- Intending to harm another person via damaging relationships, i.e., spreading false rumors
- Nonverbal threats or intimidation that are repeated or pervasive
- Threats to harm a person, other people, or someone's property
- Blackmail or demands for money or other items
- Stalking
- Blocking or limiting access to any school property
- Targeting a student due to their actual or perceived national origin, ancestry, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability of a person, sex, or any other distinguishing characteristics
- Targeting a person based on their association with someone who has or seems to have one or more of the above characteristics
As this list demonstrates, how often the bullying occurred and the severity of the bullying come into play. A single, severe incident may rise to the level of bullying, whereas a pattern is needed when the behavior is more minor.
Cyberbullying
Nevada does include electronic communications, more commonly known as cyberbullying, as part of its laws on bullying. With cyberbullying, one of the challenges for families of students who have been bullied is that Nevada limits school liability to actions that occur on school property or during school activities.
Research indicates that the majority of cyberbullying occurs over social media. In 2023, one alleged bullying incident within the Clark County School District stated the bullying began online before transitioning to physical violence.
When one student bullies another student at home while using their property, such as a computer or table purchased by their families, parents or guardians may have a more difficult time showing how a school is liable. They will have to find evidence that ties the bullying or harassment to the school.
Limitations
Nevada's bullying statutes apply to students beginning in kindergarten. Pre-K students are not covered.
The laws also apply only to students. When all of the involved parties are adults, the same laws that prohibit bullying of students do not cover them.
Similarly, Nevada limits a school's responsibility to incidents that occur on school property and during school activities. For a school to be liable, families must show that at least some of the bullying occurred on school grounds or during school activities.
What Isn't Bullying
It can sometimes be difficult to know the difference between interpersonal conflicts between students and bullying.
Both Sage Ridge School and Douglas County Public Schools emphasize that bullying is not disagreement. That a student has different beliefs or expresses different opinions is not, in and of itself, bullying or verbal harassment.
Similarly, part of the learning experience for children and teenagers is developing their interpersonal skills. While not easy, arguments and disagreements are part of that development process. One general guideline to differentiate bullying from interpersonal conflict is that the latter generally involves two students on equal footing, while bullying involves an imbalance of power.
Interpersonal conflict can transform into bullying. One student's opinions may rise to the level of bullying or harassing another student.
One student's freedom of expression doesn't excuse them from bullying or harassing another student. Similarly, that two students initially disagreed or said hurtful things does not give one student the freedom to then bully the other student. The challenge in these situations is to show how and when one student's behavior crosses the line into bullying.
Bullying Summary
To show a student has been bullied, families need to establish that their student faced physical actions or communications that were intended to:
- Cause harm, such as physical harm to that student or their property
- Place a student in reasonable fear of harm or damage to themselves or their property
- Create an intimidating or hostile educational environment
For a school to be potentially liable, these behaviors must have occurred to a student who is in kindergarten or older and on school property or during school activities. The school must have also somehow failed in its duty of care to that student.
Duty of Care
For a school to be liable when a student is bullied, families must show that a school failed in its duty of care to that student. This may be due to a school's actions or inactions, such as failing to discipline or respond to reports of bullying.
A duty of care means that a school has a responsibility to keep students safe and unharmed. Those responsible for children often have a higher duty of care, given children's age and maturity. No one expects a six-year-old student to be able to protect or advocate for themselves as an adult could.
Another legal term for this doctrine is in loco parentis. This term translates as ‘in place of a parent,' and schools are often said to act in loco parentis during the school day.
Examples: 2023 Lawsuits
In 2023, the media featured stories on two alleged bullying incidents involving the Clark County School District. Both demonstrate how a school district can fail in its responsibility to students who were bullied.
In one case, a teenager alleged that what began as cyberbullying escalated to physical attacks. The teen alleges that three classmates physically assaulted him, and the school failed to intervene despite numerous requests for help from the student. The teen subsequently transferred to a local charter school to escape the harassment and filed a lawsuit against the Clark County School District.
In the second case, a mother claims that her son, who is nonverbal and autistic, had a swastika carved onto his back. The student is Jewish. The student's IEP allegedly requires that the student has an aide or other staff member with him at all times.
Clark County School District claimed their investigation found no evidence of the incident. The complaint filed against the school district stated the school district did not conduct a thorough investigation and that the alleged incident points to a pattern of discriminatory conduct.
Both of these cases highlight that any legal action isn't just about bullying. It's about showing how a school district failed in its duty to a student.
District Policies
Nevada requires that all school districts have anti-bullying policies. Known as Policy No. 543, Douglas County School District's anti-bullying policy is standard. It includes the district's statement in opposition to bullying, when and where the district can prohibit bullying, the state's definition of bullying, and a ban on disciplinary or retaliatory action against any individual who reports suspected bullying.
At the most basic, district policies should define what bullying is and how students or parents can report suspected bullying. The Clark County School District, for example, encourages but does not require students to report any bullying or harassment they either overhear or witness.
SafeVoice Nevada
The Nevada Department of Education, in partnership with the Nevada Department of Public Safety, operates the SafeVoice Nevada website. Established in 2017, the SafeVoice website gives students who attend public schools and their parents a way to anonymously report threats to student safety, including bullying. These reports may be about an individual student, a specific incident, or more general.
Students or parents may call, fill out an online form, or download an app when making a report. Before filing via SafeVoice, parents or guardians should check their district's policies about reporting bullying.
Students who attend private schools should refer to their school's policies for reporting bullying. The Meadows School, for example, requires that students report to certain members of the administration with enough information to enable the school to investigate.
Investigating a Report
Once schools review a report of alleged bullying, schools should follow Nevada's procedures for investigating the allegations. Schools should first make sure that all students are safe. They will next contact the families of any involved students on the same day that they receive a report.
Schools must create a safety plan for each involved student. These plans should:
- Case the least possible disruption to the student who was bullied
- Put the interests of the student who was bullied over those of the reported aggressor
A school principal should then meet with all involved students to learn more about the incident and determine whether bullying occurred. Investigations must be completed within 5 to 7 days, depending on the circumstances.
Schools must provide a copy of the report to the family of the student who was the aggressor. Families of students who were bullied may request a report.
Within 10 days, the principal must meet with all involved students to see if the safety plan is working. As of 2021, any discrimination or harassment based on race must be listed as a racially motivated or hate incident in the student information system.
What is Discrimination Based on Race?
In 2021, Nevada revised its laws to define certain acts of bullying as either racially motivated or hate incidents. Behavior such as jokes, threats, intimidation, or physical altercations will meet this standard when the actions are based on a student's:
- Race
- Color
- Culture
- Religion
- Language
- Ethnicity
- National origin
These revisions apply to school grounds, school activities, and, in the case of distance learning, any setting without limitation.
Elements of a Civil Lawsuit
When families decide to file a lawsuit against a school district, they will generally need to provide three elements:
- A school had a duty of care to their student
- A school failed in that duty, either by the school's action or inaction
- The school's actions or inactions caused harm or injury to the student
These elements must generally be shown whether the case is in federal or state court or against a public or private school.
Private Schools
While still required to follow some laws, private schools generally have to follow fewer state or federal laws than their public counterparts. If their child attends a private school, parents or guardians should first review the school's policies or student handbook to learn about the school's procedures for bullying and reporting harassment.
Nevada allows private schools to decide whether to comply with Nevada's laws on bullying. The state also affirms that failure to adapt or follow these rules does not open a school up to any liability.
The Meadows School, for example, prohibits bullying but also requires students to report witnessing such incidents, whether they occur in person or online. While the school's policy mostly aligns with the state's laws, it does expand protections for off-campus bullying.
Nevada Laws
Nevada gives parents the ability to petition courts if and when a school is not failing in its duty of care to a student. The state also explicitly states that none of these laws should limit a parent or guardian's ability to petition a court or pursue other legal avenues for a resolution.
Nevada's Sovereign Immunity Laws
Traditionally, governments were exempt from lawsuits under a doctrine known as sovereign immunity. Nevada has created some exceptions to this rule.
Private individuals may sue Nevada public schools when a school employee fails in their duty either through an act or omission. This is why showing how a public school failed in its duty of care to a student is so important.
Nevada does, however, cap damages at $100,000 against government agencies. It also limits damages to those that occur as part of employment. Actions that are outside an individual's public duties are not included in these laws.
Nevada requires that all lawsuits against a government body be filed within two years of the incident in question.
Sovereign immunity and the limitation for damages don't apply to lawsuits filed against private schools.
Federal Laws
The United States doesn't have any laws that directly address or prohibit bullying on the federal level. When families file against a school district in a federal court, they'll be relying on other federal laws.
The most common grounds for addressing bullying on a federal level are civil rights laws. These laws include:
- Title IV of The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans race-based discrimination
- Title VI of The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in federal programs
- Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that schools may not discriminate based on sex and gender
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) all establish rights and protections for individuals with disabilities
This list isn't exclusive. Different situations may involve different federal laws, and the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm helps our clients understand which laws are the most relevant to their situation.
Should I File in Federal or State Court?
Once you decide to file a lawsuit against your child's school, one of the first questions is what court. Whether a family will file a lawsuit in federal or state court depends on what laws they claim the school district broke. Lawsuits based on federal law will be filed in federal court, and those based on state laws will go to Nevada courts.
Before filing a lawsuit, families should generally exhaust other options in attempting to resolve the issue. This means filing a report and giving a school a chance to resolve the situation. If parents or guardians disagree with a school's actions, they should next schedule a meeting with the school to discuss other arrangements or options for resolving the situation.
The goal of these actions is to (1) find a resolution quickly that benefits your child and (2) show the courts that you attempted to resolve the situation before filing a lawsuit.
Essentially, you want to show that you tried to find good-faith solutions, but the school failed in its duty. This may also mean that they failed to properly address the problem or seek a workable solution even after parents or guardians raised concerns.
Families do not need to know what laws a school potentially violated to seek legal help. The Lento Law Firm's Education Law Team helps its clients determine the strongest legal foundation for their case, including whether a case would be better in federal or state courts.
Protect Your Student's Safety
Bullying can damage a student's sense of self, their ability to learn, and their ability to feel safe and thrive in school. If and when a school fails in its duty to protect a student from bullying and harassment, parents should seek legal remedies to resolve the situation.
Whether filing a report about bullying or a lawsuit alleging a school failed its duty of care, the Education Law Team at the Lento Law Firm can assist families in determining the best path forward. We help families seek solutions that focus on their student and their student's education and well-being. If you're in Nevada and your child is being bullied, contact us at 888-535-3686 or fill out an online form.
