When The School Calls It Bullying
ORC 3313.666 — what every district's policy has to contain, and who has to be told
Ohio does not make bullying a crime of its own in the school context. What it does instead is require every district to have a policy, and then say what that policy has to contain. That turns a vague complaint into a specific one: not whether the school cares, but whether it is doing the things the section requires its own policy to require.
Every district board establishes the policy, and does it in consultation. The board of education of each city, local, exempted village and joint vocational school district establishes a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation or bullying. The policy is developed in consultation with parents, school employees, school volunteers, students and community members.
The definition has two halves, and both have to be met. Harassment, intimidation or bullying means any intentional written, verbal, electronic or physical act a student has exhibited toward another particular student more than once, where the behaviour both causes mental or physical harm to the other student and is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening or abusive educational environment for that student.
- A statement prohibiting it on school property, on a school bus, and at school sponsored events.
- A procedure for reporting prohibited incidents.
- A requirement that school personnel report incidents they are aware of to the principal or the administrator the principal designates.
- A requirement that the custodial parent or guardian of any student involved in a prohibited incident be notified and, so far as the records law and the federal education records act permit, informed about the incident.
The summary goes to the board and onto the website. The district administration provides the president of the district board a written summary of all reported incidents twice each year, and posts the summary on the district's website where it has one, so far as the records law and the federal education records act permit.
A district employee, student or volunteer is individually immune from liability in a civil action for damages arising from reporting an incident, where the report was made promptly, in good faith, and in compliance with the procedures the policy specifies. Except as the section provides, nothing in it prevents a victim seeking redress under any other provision of the Revised Code or the common law that may apply.
A district may form bullying prevention task forces, programmes and other initiatives involving volunteers, parents, law enforcement and community members, and so far as state or federal funds are appropriated for it, provides training on the policy to employees and volunteers who have direct contact with students.
The discipline a district may impose, the separate hazing sections, which are their own page here, the criminal offences that particular conduct might also be, suspension and expulsion procedure, which is also its own page, and what a district's own policy adds beyond the section are not covered here. The policy itself is a public record and the district holds it, and whether a particular response met it is a question for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 3313.666 — The district policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation or bullying
- ORC 3313.667 — District bullying prevention initiatives and training
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.