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Board approves revisions to SFUSD harassment policy, adds electronic-communications language and broader 'appropriate action' wording
Summary
The board revised BP 5166 (students — harassment) to clarify applicability to Williams Act items, add electronic communications to examples of prohibited conduct, and replace narrow disciplinary wording with 'appropriate action' to allow restorative options; amendments passed by roll calls during debate.
The San Francisco Board of Education approved revisions to Board Policy 5166 on student harassment, adopting several amendments intended to clarify scope and modernize language for online and image-based conduct.
General Counsel read the superintendent’s proposed revision and explained a background correction: a change from using the word "student" to "pupil" is required only for materials related specifically to the Williams Act settlement, not across all district documents. Commissioners then proposed and adopted multiple targeted amendments. Commissioner Marazzi asked to add "images" to the list of prohibited conduct, to recognize harassment that can occur via pictures or posted images. Another amendment inserted the word "electronic" into the list (to cover social and other electronic media). A separate amendment replaced the phrase "disciplinary action" with "appropriate action, including disciplinary action," to allow for disciplinary or restorative responses and to ensure administrators may apply education or support-based responses as appropriate.
Board members debated whether the policy should explicitly address internet communications and the limits of school authority for out-of-school speech; legal counsel advised that drafting be broad enough to cover media involved in conduct without preempting case law on First Amendment limits. The final motion, incorporating the amendments, passed by roll call (transcript records 7 ayes). Staff said implementation details (reeducation or restorative practices) would be addressed in administrative regulations.
