Protecting Students
from Harassment
and Hate Crime
A Guide for Schools
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
National Association of Attorneys General
Endorsed by the National School Boards Association:
“Research indicates that creating a supportive
school climate is the most important step in pre-
venting harassment. A school can have policies and
procedures, but these alone will not prevent harass-
ment. This is the kind of good preventive work the
field needs to help ensure that schools provide a
safe and welcome environment for all students.”

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Protecting Students
from Harassment
and Hate Crime
A Guide for Schools
U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
National Association of Attorneys General
Endorsed by the National School Boards Association:
“Research indicates that creating a supportive
school climate is the most important step in pre-
venting harassment. A school can have policies and
procedures, but these alone will not prevent harass-
ment. This is the kind of good preventive work the
field needs to help ensure that schools provide a
safe and welcome environment for all students.”
January 1999

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THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20202
January 6, 1999
Dear Colleague:
I am very pleased to join with the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) in issuing
this Guide for schools on protecting students from harassment and hate crimes. The Guide is the
product of a joint effort by NAAG and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department
of Education. Similar to other guidelines that this Department has issued on issues such as
religion in the schools, school safety, and school uniforms, it is designed to be a source of
information and help to schools and school districts in dealing with fundamental problems and
issues that they must confront.
Our schools owe students a safe environment that is conducive to learning and that affords all
students an equal opportunity to achieve high educational standards. Harassment and hate
crimes undermine these purposes and may cause serious harm to the development of students
who are victimized by this behavior.
I hope that you find the information in the Guide useful.
Yours sincerely,
Richard W. Riley
Our mission is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation.

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Dear School Superintendents, Administrators, School Board
Members and Equity Coordinators:
As education and law enforcement officials, we are all committed to
ensuring that students throughout our nation are able to attend school
safely, free from all forms of harassment. Regrettably, however, some
students are subject to verbal and physical abuse and intimidation
based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, disability,
or sexual orientation. This harassment can lead to serious violence
against students and can affect adversely their ability to learn or to
benefit from an educational program.
School officials, working closely with students, parents and commu-
nity groups, play a critical role in ensuring that such forms of harass-
ment and violence have no place in our schools. In this regard, we are
pleased to provide you the enclosed copy of Protecting Students from
Harassment and Hate Crime: A Guide for Schools, developed jointly by
the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, and the
Bias Crimes Task Force Subcommittee of the National Association of
Attorneys General.
The Guide provides school administrators and others with practical
guidance for developing a comprehensive approach to protecting
students from harassment and violence. It provides step-by-step assis-
tance to schools for:
• developing a comprehensive written anti-harassment policy;
• identifying and responding effectively to harassment;
• establishing formal reporting and complaint procedures;
• creating a safe and supportive school climate;
• responding to hate-motivated violence through cooperation and
partnerships between school and law enforcement officials; and
• developing crisis intervention plans to avoid disruption of the
educational process.
The Guide defines and describes harassment and hate crimes, contains
information about applicable laws, details specific positive steps that
schools can take to prevent and respond to harassment, includes sample

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policies and procedures used by school districts in the United States, and
identifies many of the resource materials available to assist schools.
While the use of the attached Guide will by no means eliminate all
harassment and violence at schools, we believe that information con-
tained in it will provide invaluable assistance to schools when developing
the policies and procedures necessary to create safe schools that foster
constructive relationships among students and staff. Ultimately, it will
take the efforts of all members of the community, educators, parents,
students, law enforcement and others to make schools a place where
every single student is safe and has an equal opportunity to learn.
We hope you will find this Guide useful and look forward to work-
ing together with you to prevent harassment and violence in our
nation’s schools.
Yours sincerely,
Mike Moore
Norma V. Cantú
Attorney General of Mississippi
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
President, National Association of
U.S. Department of Education
Attorneys General
Andrew Ketterer
Attorney General of Maine
Chair, Civil Rights Committee
National Association of
Attorneys General

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Acknowledgments
This Guide was developed jointly by the U.S. Department of Education and the Bias Crimes Task Force of the National
Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). The time and commitment of the following people are gratefully acknowledged.
These individuals were responsible for drafting this document, providing legal review, project direction, subject matter
expertise and other assistance without which publication of this document would not have been possible.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL
Office for Civil Rights
Office of the General Counsel
Bias Crimes Task Force of the Civil Rights Committee
Education Subcommittee
Arthur L. Coleman
Chair:
Susan Craig
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Assistant General Counsel
Richard W. Cole
Paul R. Sheridan
Chief, Civil Rights Division
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Division of Educational Equity
Barbara Wolkowitz
Office of the Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Senior Staff Attorney, Chicago Office
Karl M. Lahring
Massachusetts
West Virginia
Deputy Assistant General Counsel
John Benjes
Division of Educational Equity
Members:
Terrence A. Smith
Chief Attorney, Seattle Office
Stephen L. Wessler
Assistant Attorney General
Joan Bardee
Doreen Dennis
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Attorney
Attorney
Department of the Attorney General
Florida
Program Legal Group
Maine
Lisa Battalia Anthony
Andrea M. Hampton
Rosemary Fennell
Attorney
Craig Y. Fujii
Supreme Court & Civil Rights
Management & Program Analyst
Assistant Attorney General
Project Manager
Program Legal Group
Office of the Attoney General
National Association of
Arizona
Attorneys General
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Judy Drickey-Prohow
Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program
Assistant Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Bill Modzeleski
Sara Strizzi
Arizona
Director
Program Analyst
This Guide is not intended to and does not add to or subtract from any otherwise applicable requirements contained
in any federal or state law. The Guide is intended to provide suggestions that school systems may find helpful to
address the issue of harassment and violence in the schools. Participation by the Bias Crimes Task Force of the NAAG
Civil Rights Committee and the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in this joint
project should not be interpreted to mean that NAAG, any state Attorney General’s office, or the Department of
Education requires any school department, school district or school to make use of this Guide.
Materials reprinted or cited in this Guide and Appendices are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not
specifically endorsed or approved by the Office for Civil Rights or the National Association of Attorneys General.
Appreciation for permission to reprint such materials is especially extended to the following sources: Alexander
Hamilton Institute, Ramsey, New Jersey; the Thompson Publishing Group, Washington, D.C.; Programs for Educa-
tional Opportunities, University of Michigan School of Education; Alameda County (California) Office of Education;
WestEd, Los Alamitos, California; the Anti-Defamation League; and Hilda Quiroz, Consultant, Soquel, California.
Permission to reprint this public domain publication is not necessary. However, if the Guide is reprinted, please cite
it as the source and retain the credits to the original author or originator of any of the documents contained in the
Appendices. For questions about reprinting material in the Appendices, contact the author or originator of the
document. The full text is also available at OCR’s home page at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/. Individuals with

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disabilities may obtain this document in an alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette)
on request. For more information, please contact us at: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, by
telephone at 800/421-3481, by email at OCR@ed.gov, or at any of the field offices listed in this Guide. Individuals
who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call OCR’s TDD number at 202/205-5166.
The template for this publication was designed by Eda Warren, Desktop Publishing Services, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.
Assistance was provided by Glenn Schulman, Synergistics, and Sabrina Thomas and Maribel Alvarez, OCR.

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Document Outline

• FM.pdf
  • Develop written policies that prohibit unlawful harassment
  • Identify and respond to all incidents of harassment and violence
  • Provide formal complaint procedures
  • Create a school climate that supports racial, cultural, and other forms of diversity
  • Work with law enforcement agencies to address and prevent hate crimes and civil rights violations
  • Part II: Step-By-Step Guidance
  • Developing the Districts Written Anti-Harassment Policy
  • State the school districts commitment to eliminating harassment
  • Include all harassment prohibited by federal, state, and local laws
  • Define harassment based on race and national origin
  • Define sexual harassment
  • Define harassment based on disability
  • Explain that a hostile environment depends on the context in which the conduct occurs
  • Define other types of harassment prohibited by state law or by district choice
  • Specify procedures for accepting and responding to reports of harassment, including a formal complaint process
  • Prohibit retaliation against persons who report discrimination or participate in related proceedings
  • Consider the First Amendment and freedom of speech
  • Identifying and Responding to Incidents of Harassment
  • Encourage students and parents to notify the district when harassment occurs
  • Provide knowledgeable staff responses to reports of harassment
  • Require employees to report harassment and to intervene to stop it
  • Make appropriate law enforcement referrals
  • Investigate all reports of harassment
  • Take prompt remedial action appropriate to the offense and the age and identity of the parties
  • Formal Complaint/Grievance Procedures
  • Notify all members of the school community of the grievance procedures
  • Specify the process for filing complaints
  • Provide adequate, reliable, and impartial investigation of complaints
  • Resolve complaints promptly, issue findings, and take remedial action
  • Creating a School Climate that Appreciates Diversity
  • Provide ample information about the anti-harassment program
  • Invest in training of school board members, administrators, and staff
  • Educate students about harassment and discrimination and involve them in prevention activities
  • Implement monitoring programs and prevention strategies
  • Involve parents and community members in anti-harassment efforts
  • Appoint one or more employees to coordinate the districts anti-harassment activities
  • Maintain an adequate record-keeping system and regularly evaluate the data collected
  • Addressing Hate Crimes and Conflicts in School and in the Community
  • Identify the hate crime laws that apply in the schools jurisdiction
  • Recognize bias-motivated crime and violence
  • Contact law enforcement personnel, as appropriate
  • Prepare for crisis situations
  • Coordinate the schools anti-harassment activities with the larger community
  • Be aware of and follow applicable federal, state and local reporting procedures
  • Enforce the districts anti-harassment policies consistently and vigorously
  • Notes on Parts I and II 47

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