When Lehighton Area School District’s school board voted Monday night to give final approval to an updated bullying and cyberbullying policy, the timing was no accident.

Superintendent Jason Moser had spent the weeks leading up to the vote reviewing new state school code language that directly addressed concerns board members had raised at an earlier workshop meeting about the district’s existing policy. When he sat down to update it, the two lined up.

“I utilized the language that came out in the new school code passage because it actually addressed what was being spoken about at the workshop meeting,” Moser said.

Among the most significant additions to the policy is a new requirement that when a bullying or cyberbullying incident is confirmed, the school must immediately notify the parents or legal guardians of any student involved. The policy states the notification must happen “as soon as practicable” after a determination is made — language drawn directly from the new state school code.

“Overall, I applaud this,” Moser said. “I would hope that we are trying to do this as consistently as we can all along the way.”

The updated policy also now requires that any bullying complaint be reviewed simultaneously for potential violations of discrimination law. Under the revised language, if a bullying investigation uncovers possible discrimination issues, the district’s Title IX coordinator must be promptly notified and both investigations conducted jointly and concurrently.

The policy defines bullying as an intentional electronic, written, verbal or physical act directed at another student that is severe, persistent or pervasive, and that substantially interferes with a student’s education, creates a threatening environment, or substantially disrupts the orderly operation of the school. Cyberbullying is defined, in part by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person, often done anonymously.

Under the policy, bullying is prohibited in school, on school grounds, in school vehicles, at designated bus stops and at any activity sponsored, supervised or sanctioned by the school.

Students found to have violated the policy face a range of consequences, from counseling and parental conferences to suspension, expulsion and referral to law enforcement. The policy also requires district administration to report bullying incidents annually as part of the Safe School Report.

The policy states that the board “recognizes that bullying creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, detracts from the safe environment necessary for student learning, and may lead to more serious violence.”