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Free From

Bias • Bullying



Table of Contents

Welcome Letter...................................................4
Our Mission.........................................................6
What is Student Bullying?....................................8
What’s not Bullying?............................................9
Bullying vs. Harassment....................................10
What to Expect After Making a Report...............14
How to HelpYour Child.................................. ...15
Bullying Prevention at MMSD...........................18

Published by 3
Ron Brent, Publishing
Amy White MMSD, Editorials
Hallie Funk, Layout & Graphics

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Bias-Bullying Safe School Booklet

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4



Our Mission

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD)
is committed to creating safe and supportive
learning environments for all students.  Everything we
do is about making sure every school is thriving and
that every child graduates ready for college, career
and community.   Bullying can have harmful social,
physical, psychological and/or academic impact on
students who targeted as well as those that engage in
bullying behaviors, and bystanders that observe acts
of bullying.
 
We believe that long-term substantial change to our
school environments occurs when teachers, students,
families, school administrators, and school staff alike
are committed to improving their school’s community.

6

To address this issue, MMSD ensures the following:
• Assistance with developing school-based sys-
tems that create welcoming environments for
all students and families.
• Professional development training for educators
and school-based staff.
• Disciplinary consultations in support of school
administrators and staff who investigate acts of
bullying that occur on school grounds.
• Provide educational materials on the MMSD
website that informs parents about MMSD’s an-
ti-bullying policies, procedures, and reporting
forms.
• Educate school staff on how to identify acts of
bullying and the appropriate interventions nec-
essary to address the act.

7

What is Student Bullying?

Bullying against a student(s) is the intentional action
by an individual or group of individuals to inflict
physical, emotional or mental harm or suffering on
another individual or group of individuals when there
is an imbalance of real or perceived power. Bullying
behavior creates an objectively hostile or offensive
environment. Such an environment may cause, or be
likely to cause, negative and harmful conditions.

-Madison Metropolitan School District Board
Policies 4510 (Student Bullying)

Bullying is the intentional action to
inflict physical, emotional or mental harm
or suffering on another when there is an

imbalance of real or perceived power.
Student-to-Student Bullying manifests itself in various
forms, such as: intentional actions, hurtful name-
calling, physical attacks, etc., all of which occur in
our schools and our larger community. Furthermore,
bullying impacts not only the targeted student, but the
student who engaged in the behavior, bystanders and
the larger school community.

8

Conflict vs. Bullying:

What is conflict?

Conflict occurs when two or more people who
are equal in their relationship disagree. As our
students grow and form relationships with each other,
conflict may arise and at times, may be hurtful. Despite
the fact that conflict may hurt someone emotionally or
physically, conflict is NOT bullying.
What is bullying?
An act is considered bullying when there is an
imbalance of power between two or more people
who are at odds with each other, and the person
who engages in the act of bullying intends to hurt
the other person (emotionally or physically). The
emotional and/or physical harm is done on purpose to
make the targeted person feel bad and in some cases,
powerless. Also, there is something unequal about
the relationship between the person who engaged in
the act of bullying and the person who was targeted
(e.g. when a student uses their social influence and/or
popularity to turn others against the targeted student).

9

PACER’s

National Bullying Prevention Center, www.pacer.org

CONFLICT: BULLYING:

• Both parties • One party
are in part is primarily
responsible for responsible for
the problem. the problem.

  

• A disagreement • An imbalance of
or difference of power (real or
opinion between perceived) exists
equals between parties.

10

 

Bullying vs. Harassment

Harassment is unwanted, deliberate or repeated
unsolicited comments (oral or written),
gestures, graphic material, physical contacts,
verbal/nonverbal or physical conduct directed to an
individual because of the student’s membership in a
protected class. Harassment occurs when a hostile
environment is created by the offending behavior.
Here is a list of Protected Classes:

•Age •Parental Status
•Ancestry •Pregnancy
•Color •Race
•Creed •Religion
•Disability •Retaliation
•Gender Expression •Sex
•Gender Identity •Sexual Orientation
•Homelessness •National Origin
•Marital Status

Madison Metropolitan School District’s Non-
Discrimination policy, MMSD School Board Policy 4620

11

Bullying and harassment BOTH involve behavior that
• intimidates
• threatens,
• offends or humiliates others.

However, bullying is not necessarily linked
to a target’s protected class.

While actions which are considered bullying may also
be harassment, harassment and discrimination arise
when the actions against a person are influenced by
that person’s protected class.

12

What to do if Your Child is
Being Bullied or Harassed?

Speak with someone from the student’s school and/or
the school district.

• Contact any teacher, Student Services staff, or
administrator in the school

• Contact the Title IX Investigator, 608-663-1530
• Contact the Coordinator of Progressive

Discipline, 608-663-1908

13

What to Expect When
I Report a Incident

When incident of bullying is reported to
a MMSD staff member or staff at your
student’s school, the procedure to address

the matter is below:

14

How to Help My Child

Be aware of signs and symptoms of bullying:
A child who is a victim of bullying may display one or
more of the following behaviors at home:

• Appears sad or depressed, or shows unexpect-
ed mood shifts, irritability, disrupted sleep,
and sudden outbursts of temper.

• Seems socially isolated, with few — if any —
real friends; is rarely invited to parties or to the
homes of other kids.

• Appears afraid or reluctant to go to school in
the morning, complaining repeatedly of head-
aches or stomach pains.

• Loses interest in school work, and their grades
suffer.

• Chooses an “illogical” route for going to and
from school.

How to help:
1. Talk with your child-- It important to provide your
child with a safe supportive place to discuss their feel-
ings

• Ask open-ended questions like: “What hap-
pened? How did that make you feel?”

15

2.   Support and empower your child -- Assist your
child in developing an action plan to address this prob-
lem. Help your child understand that they have the
ability to generate ideas and develop potential solu-
tions around this problem

• Ask questions like, “What do you think you can
say next time? What do you think might work?
What would you like to see happen?”  

3. Be aware of and monitor your child’s use of tech-
nology -- Cyber-Bullying is harmful and oftentimes, is
not addressed. Monitoring your child’s use of social
media keeps you informed of the social interactions
that may impact your child’s well-being.
4. Understand your rights -- Check your MMSD’s
Anti-Bullying policy is included in this booklet in the
preceding pages.

• Access the district’s policy and procedures on
bullying

16

5. Reach out to your child’s school-- Working collabo-
ratively with the staff at your child’s school is import-
ant in expressing your concerns and advocating for
your child.  Sometimes, staff may be unaware bully-
ing is occurring, therefore it is important to engage
your child’s school.

• Say things like:  “My child is coming home and
talking about this.” And then say, “This is how
it’s impacting my child.”

• Ask to fill out a Bullying Reporting Form so
that your concern is clearly documented and
investigated.

• When addressing the school’s response, ask
things like:  “When can I expect to hear back
from you about what you’ve done? What’s
the next step?”

17

Bullying Prevention at MMSD

The Madison Metropolitan School District is
committed to ensuring a safe, inclusive learning
environment for our students, free of bias, bullying,
and discrimination.  We know that we need to teach
our young people the skills to solve conflicts peacefully
on a universal level.  
Setting the Foundation: Universal Strategies that
Support Positive School Climate & Culture

18

Prevention is the Key!  

Apositive school environment that cultivates
respect and caring, students can concentrate
on their studies. If students feel safe, they are
empowered to explore new ideas and concepts.
If respect and empathy are the norm, bullying
behavior is less likely to occur. (Straim, Bullying
Prevention: Building a Positive School Climate.)
All of the schools in MMSD are committed to
implementing school-wide programs and practices
aimed at creating a positive school climate.   The
following pages contain a handful of best practices
used in MMSD to prevent bullying and harassment.

19

Restorative Approach
Community Building,
Restorative Circles,
& Restorative Conversations

• Restorative Justice is a philosophical framework
and a social movement rooted in the values of
interconnectedness, equality, and respect.

A restorative approach focuses on developing a strong
community in which adults and students feel a sense
of belonging. A whole school approach highlights the
importance of a positive school climate, which refers
to how students routinely treat one another on the
bus, in class, and in the halls; how adults treat each
other in their staff meetings; as well as how adults and
students treat each other throughout the day. How well
individuals are able to be together impacts all aspects of
the success of a school, including student learning.
• Restorative Practices grew out of this philosophy, and

the restorative approach helps to build and maintain
healthy relationships and to address a wide range of
challenging situations. The objectives of restorative
approaches include repairing harm by addressing
the needs of targets, the needs of the community,
and the needs of those who have done wrong.  

20

• A Restorative Circle is a carefully structured dialogue
process involving all those impacted by a conflict or
wrongdoing, with the aim of acknowledging harm,
righting wrongs, and moving forward in positive
ways.
We use Circles to build community and to
address conflicts, but we do not use Restor-
ative Circles in cases of bullying due to the
imbalance of power that exists in cases of
bullying and harassment.

• Community-Building Circles help to create a climate
of respect and caring, and support practices needed
when harm has been done.  The values of restorative
practices—inclusion, respect, mutual responsibility
and accountability—are congruent with other
MMSD programs that teach social-emotional
learning (SEL) and support classroom and behavior
management, such as PBIS, Responsive Classrooms,
Developmental Designs, Welcoming Schools, and
Tribes.  We use community-building circles regularly
during Morning Meeting in Elementary School and
during Advisory / Circles of Power & Respect in
Middle School.

21

Welcoming Schools

Welcoming Schools is a comprehensive approach
to creating respectful and supportive
elementary schools with books, lesson plans, resources,
and professional development to embrace family
diversity, create LGBTQ-inclusive school, prevent bias-
based bullying and gender stereotyping, & support
transgender and gender-expansive students.
Welcoming Schools partner schools in MMSD are
committed to teaching students the skills to be allies to
their fellow students.  We know most bullying in school
comes from bias, prejudice, and stereotypes, whether
it is based on gender, race or religion. Welcoming
Schools helps students discuss the kinds of bullying
that they really see and hear, prevent bullying, and
welcome all students.
Website: www.welcomingschools.org/

22

Responsive Classrooms

• Responsive Classrooms practices improve teacher
effectiveness, student achievement, and school
climate. Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based
approach to elementary and middle school teaching
that focuses on the strong link between academic
success and social-emotional learning (SEL).
Website: www.responsiveclassroom.org/

23

Developmental Designs

• Developmental Designs’ comprehensive practices
integrate social and academic learning because we
believe that student success relies on a blend of
good relationships, social skills, and engagement
with learning. Teaching and learning are weakened
by misbehavior, lack of a safe, inclusive community,
and student apathy. The practices in the Develop-
mental Designs approach are designed to meet
adolescent needs by addressing these key elements
of effective teaching:
• Use developmentally appropriate practices
and content
• Build social-emotional skills
• Rigorously respond to rule-breaking
• Motivate students to achieve academically
• Intervene with struggling students
• Create inclusive learning communities

Website: www.originsonline.org/developmental-designs

24



Second Step, &
Child Protection Unit

• Second Step Social-Emotional Learning Program:
Providing skills for social & academic success
Second Step is a program for Elementary and
Middle School which teaches critical skills—such
as managing emotions and behavior, getting along
with peers, and solving problems peacefully—that
can help students in school, the workplace, and
throughout their lives.

• Child Protection Unit: Keep kids safe from abuse
The Second Step Child Protection Unit begins with
training that helps schools develop policies and
procedures to keep kids safe and teaches all staff
to recognize signs of possible abuse and respond if
a child discloses. Elementary school students learn
about personal safety in age-appropriate lessons,
and family materials facilitate safety discussions at
home.

Websites: www.secondstep.org/
www.cfchildren.org/

26

Supports for students
Identified as Engaging in

Bullying Behavior  

MMSD strives to support students in
demonstrating pro-social and positive
behaviors.  When a student does not meet these
expectations, supports are provided to respond to
student needs.  Student services staff are available
in all MMSD school buildings to work with students
struggling to meet expectations. Procedure to
follow up on incidents of bullying will be addressed
in accordance with MMSD board policy and the
Behavior Education Plan.

27

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