California does not have a single law that makes bullying a crime, and that surprises most parents. What California has instead is a set of duties placed on the school: Education Code 48900(r) defines bullying, including electronic acts, and makes it grounds for discipline; the Safe Place to Learn Act and Seth’s Law, Education Code 234.1, require every district to adopt a written anti-bullying policy, publish how to report, train staff, and investigate complaints on a timeline. The short answer to the question families usually arrive with is this: the school is required to have a process, and it is required to use it when you report in writing.
The second thing to understand is that the strength of a family’s position almost always comes down to paper. In the files we see, the difference between a district that acts and a district that stalls is whether the parent reported verbally to a teacher in the pickup line or reported in writing to the principal and the district office with dates, screenshots and a request for an investigation. A verbal report leaves no record that the school knew. A written report starts a clock, creates a document the district must answer, and, if the conduct continues and a child is hurt, becomes the evidence that the school was on notice and did nothing.
What counts as bullying under California law
Education Code 48900(r) defines bullying as severe or pervasive conduct, including written, verbal, physical or electronic acts, directed at one or more students, that a reasonable student would expect to cause one of several results: a reasonable fear of harm to person or property, a substantially detrimental effect on physical or mental health, substantial interference with academic performance, or substantial interference with the ability to participate in school activities. You can read the section at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
Two words in that definition do the heavy lifting. Severe or pervasive. A single unkind remark is not bullying under the statute. A pattern of remarks over weeks, or one incident serious enough to change how a child moves through the school day, can be. That is why documentation of frequency matters as much as documentation of severity.
The statute also covers electronic acts created off campus. Posts, group texts, direct messages, fake profiles and impersonation accounts fall within the definition when they meet the statutory criteria and reach into the school environment. Schools do have to respect student speech rights, and the case law limits how far a district can go in disciplining purely off campus speech, but the district’s duty to investigate and to protect the targeted student is not switched off because the phone was in a bedroom rather than a classroom.
Education Code 220 adds a separate layer. When bullying is tied to a protected characteristic, including race, national origin, religion, disability, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation, it is also discrimination, and it triggers additional obligations and additional avenues of complaint.
What Seth’s Law requires the district to do
Seth’s Law, Education Code 234.1, is the operative provision for most families. It requires every district to:
- Adopt a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying, including on the basis of protected characteristics.
- Publish a process for reporting, including the name and contact information of the district employee responsible for compliance.
- Require school personnel who witness such conduct to intervene when it is safe to do so.
- Post the policy and the complaint process on the district website and in schools.
- Investigate and resolve complaints through the Uniform Complaint Procedures.
That last item is the one districts most often handle badly. A complaint about bullying tied to a protected characteristic goes through the Uniform Complaint Procedures, and the regulations set real deadlines: a complaint is generally filed within six months of the conduct, and the district generally must issue a written decision within sixty days. A family that disagrees with the district’s decision can appeal to the California Department of Education. When the conduct involves discrimination, a separate complaint can be filed with the federal Office for Civil Rights, generally within 180 days.
Ask for the district’s policy in writing on the day you report. If the school cannot produce it, that failure is itself a fact worth recording.
When bullying crosses into criminal conduct
Some behavior is not a school discipline matter at all. Stalking is a crime under Penal Code 646.9. A threat of great bodily injury that puts a person in sustained fear is a criminal threat under Penal Code 422. Penal Code 653.2 covers electronic distribution of material intended to cause another person to be harassed or placed in fear. Where the conduct is serious or ongoing, a family can also ask the court for a civil harassment restraining order.
We tell parents to make this decision deliberately rather than emotionally. Calling police creates a report, and a report is useful evidence in every later forum. It also changes the temperature of the situation and can affect how the school treats the family. There are situations where it is plainly the right call, and situations where a firm written demand to the district accomplishes more.
Can a family sue a school district over bullying
Sometimes. A public school district is a public entity, and California public entity liability is statutory rather than open ended. The usual route is Government Code 815.2, which makes a public entity liable for injuries caused by an employee acting within the scope of employment. Education Code 44807 places a duty on certificated employees to hold students accountable for their conduct and to maintain order. Put together, the theory in most of these cases is that school employees knew about a danger to a specific student and failed to exercise reasonable supervision, and that failure led to a foreseeable injury.
That is not the same as a claim that a school failed to stop unkindness. Courts do not treat a district as an insurer of student behavior. The claims that go somewhere tend to share three features: written notice to the school before the injury, a pattern rather than a single unforeseeable act, and an actual injury the district’s inaction helped cause.
The deadline is the part that ends more cases than any legal argument. A claim against a public entity generally requires a written government claim presented within six months of the injury under Government Code 911.2, and only after the claim is rejected does a lawsuit deadline begin to run. Six months goes fast when a family is dealing with a child who will not go to school, an IEP meeting, a therapist and a district that keeps promising to look into it. Where the injury is physical, and particularly where a child suffered a head injury in an assault at school, the medical documentation and the claim deadline need attention at the same time. Our practice includes brain injury claims, and in those files early neurological documentation is what separates a provable injury from a disputed one.
Claims against a private school are different. A private school is not a public entity, the six month claim requirement does not apply, and the ordinary two year personal injury deadline under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1 generally governs. The duty comes from the enrollment relationship and from ordinary negligence principles rather than from the Government Claims Act.
What to do, in order
Write it down the day it happens. Date, time, location, what was said or done, who saw it, and the effect on your child. Screenshot everything, including the URL and the account name, before it is deleted.
Report in writing. Email the principal, copy the district compliance officer named in the district policy, and ask for three things: an investigation, interim safety measures, and a written response. Keep the email.
Track the school’s response. Note every meeting, every promise and every date. If the district said it would separate two students and did not, write that down too.
Document the effect on your child. Absences, nurse visits, counseling notes, a drop in grades, a pediatrician’s note. This is the evidence that turns a complaint into a claim, and it is the evidence families most often fail to collect.
Escalate on the timeline. Use the Uniform Complaint Procedures, appeal to the Department of Education if the decision is inadequate, and consider a federal Office for Civil Rights complaint where a protected characteristic is involved.
Watch the six month clock. If your child was physically injured, the government claim deadline is running whether or not the district has finished its process. Do not wait for the investigation to conclude.
What a family should expect from a lawyer here
Most bullying situations do not become lawsuits, and a candid attorney will tell you that early. What a lawyer often adds is weight at the school level. A letter on firm letterhead that quotes Education Code 234.1, identifies the district’s own published policy, states the dates of prior written reports and asks for a written response tends to produce a different meeting than a parent’s fifth email. In many of these matters that is the whole engagement, and it is the right outcome.
Where a case does exist, it is usually because a child was physically hurt after the district was warned, or because the conduct was tied to a protected characteristic and the district’s process failed. Those cases require the government claim, careful medical and educational records, and a willingness to file. We handle these matters personally from our Chatsworth office and represent families across the San Fernando Valley, including Van Nuys and Los Angeles, and the rest of California. You can read more about our attorney or see the full range of matters we handle.
Key points
- Education Code 48900(r) defines bullying as severe or pervasive conduct, including electronic acts created off campus.
- Seth’s Law, Education Code 234.1, requires every district to adopt a policy, publish a reporting process, train staff and investigate complaints.
- Uniform Complaint Procedures generally require filing within six months, with a written district decision generally due within sixty days and an appeal available to the state.
- Some conduct is criminal, including stalking under Penal Code 646.9 and criminal threats under Penal Code 422.
- A claim against a public school district generally requires a written government claim within six months under Government Code 911.2.
- Written reports to the school are the single most valuable piece of evidence a family can create.
Frequently asked questions
Is bullying illegal in California?
Bullying itself is not a standalone crime, but it is prohibited conduct in every California school under Education Code 48900(r), and districts are required by Education Code 234.1 to have a policy and a complaint process. Some bullying behavior is separately criminal, including stalking, criminal threats and certain electronic harassment.
Does off campus cyberbullying count?
Yes, when it meets the statutory definition of an electronic act and affects the school environment. Schools still have to respect student speech rights, so a district’s power to discipline off campus speech is narrower than its duty to investigate and to protect the targeted student. Preserve screenshots with timestamps and account names, because these posts disappear.
How long do I have to bring a claim against a school district?
If your child was injured, a written government claim is generally due within six months of the injury under Government Code 911.2, and a lawsuit deadline follows rejection of the claim. That is much shorter than the two year deadline that applies to most injury claims, and it runs while the district’s own investigation is still open.
What if the school keeps saying it is investigating?
Put your next report in writing, ask for a written response with a date, and file a Uniform Complaint if you have not already. An open investigation does not extend any legal deadline. If your child has been physically harmed, treat the six month government claim clock as running from the injury regardless of what the district says about its process.
If your child was hurt at school after you told someone and nothing changed, we are glad to look at what you reported and when, and to tell you plainly whether there is a claim worth bringing. You can contact the firm any time. Consultations are free, and there is no fee unless we recover for you. Call (818) 818-5031.
