5 Critical Facts You Must Know About The Mandatory Broward County Anti-Bullying Course (2025-2026)
The Broward County Anti-Bullying Course is not just a suggestion; it is a mandatory annual requirement for hundreds of thousands of K-12 students and all school personnel across Broward County Public Schools (BCPS). As of late 2025, the BCPS system continues to enforce one of the nation’s most comprehensive anti-bullying policies, ensuring a safe and respectful learning environment for every student. This essential training is the cornerstone of the district's commitment to eradicating hostile school environments, addressing everything from traditional harassment to modern cyberbullying threats.
The continuous enforcement and annual updates to the training modules reflect the district's dedication to meeting the requirements of Florida state law and fostering a culture of peace and mutual respect. Understanding the specific mandates, who must complete the training, and what the curriculum covers is vital for students, parents, and employees entering the 2025-2026 school year.
The Foundation: Policy 5900 and The Jeffrey Johnston Act
The entire framework for anti-bullying training in Broward County is built upon a robust legal and policy structure. This structure ensures accountability and provides clear guidelines for prevention, reporting, and investigation of all bullying incidents.
- Policy 5900: The School Board of Broward County adopted its comprehensive Anti-Bullying Policy 5900 on July 22, 2008. This policy is recognized as one of the most thorough in the nation and serves as the primary document governing all anti-bullying initiatives within BCPS.
- Florida Statute Mandate: Policy 5900 is mandated by Florida Statute 1006.147, also known as The Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act. This state-level legislation requires all school districts in Florida to adopt an official policy prohibiting bullying and harassment.
- Core Goal: The central objective of the policy and the subsequent training is to ensure that all students feel safe and respected while attending school, covering investigations into bullying, harassment, and cyberbullying.
Fact 1: The Course is Mandatory for ALL K-12 Students—Annually
One of the most critical aspects of the Broward County Anti-Bullying Course is its universal application to the student body. The training is not reserved only for students involved in incidents but is a proactive measure for all.
To meet the requirements of SBBC Policy 5900, every single student in grades K-12 is mandated to receive this anti-bullying training annually. This yearly requirement ensures that the concepts remain fresh and relevant, especially as new forms of bullying, such as sophisticated cyberbullying tactics, continue to evolve.
The curriculum is structured to be age-appropriate and impactful. For instance, the BCPS Bullying Prevention Curriculum contains three distinct lessons per grade level, ensuring a progressive educational experience from kindergarten through high school. These lessons focus on foundational concepts:
- What constitutes bullying, including physical, verbal, social, and electronic forms.
- The critical difference between conflict and bullying.
- The importance of being an upstander, not a bystander.
- Why students should take action to stop bullying.
Fact 2: All BCPS Employees Must Complete the Training for the 2025-2026 School Year
The anti-bullying mandate extends far beyond the students; it is a compulsory requirement for all adults working within the school system. This ensures that every staff member—from teachers and administrators to bus drivers and cafeteria workers—is equipped to recognize, report, and respond to bullying incidents consistently.
All Broward County Public School (BCPS) employees, including school-based and District staff with personnel numbers, are required to complete the annual Anti-Bullying Policy training. The training for the 2025-2026 school year is specifically registered under the course name "SBBC ANTI-BULLYING POLICY 25-26" (Course #39147080).
Staff members access this required learning through the district’s internal system, known as LAB (Learning Across Broward), ensuring that compliance is tracked and verified. This mandatory training is a key component of the district's overall strategy to maintain a safe environment, alongside other policies like the Title IX Policy and Grievance Procedures.
Fact 3: Parent Training and Involvement is Integral to the Policy
Broward County Public Schools explicitly recognizes that parents and legal guardians are an integral part of a school's safe and supportive environment. Therefore, the district provides dedicated resources and training for the community outside of the classroom.
The district offers an "Anti-Bullying Parent Training" module specifically designed to inform the community about Policy 5900. This training empowers parents to:
- Understand the official definition of bullying as per Policy 5900.
- Recognize the signs of bullying in their children (both as victims and perpetrators).
- Learn the proper channels and procedures for reporting a suspected bullying incident to school administration.
- Reinforce anti-bullying messages and positive behavior at home.
This collaborative approach is a critical factor in the success of any anti-bullying program, creating a unified front between the school and the home environment.
Fact 4: The Course Directly Addresses Cyberbullying and Electronic Harassment
In the digital age, much of the harassment students face occurs online or through electronic means. The BCPS Anti-Bullying Course and Policy 5900 are explicitly designed to address these modern threats, ensuring the policy is not limited to physical school grounds.
The policy's investigative scope encompasses cyberbullying, which is defined as bullying that occurs through the use of electronic communication. The training modules dedicate significant attention to the legal and disciplinary consequences of electronic harassment, which can be particularly damaging due to its rapid spread and permanence.
Furthermore, BCPS is involved in broader community initiatives like the Choose Peace/Stop Violence initiative, a continuing partnership with the Children's Services Council of Broward County (CSC) and United Way of Broward County. These partnerships reinforce the message that violence and bullying, whether in-person or online, are unacceptable and provide additional community resources for prevention and intervention.
Fact 5: Training Modules Include Clear Reporting and Investigation Procedures
The Broward County Anti-Bullying Course is not merely theoretical; it is highly procedural. A key component of the training for both staff and parents is a clear outline of how to report and how investigations are conducted under Policy 5900.
The policy provides specific forms for reporting and a detailed process for investigations, which is crucial for ensuring due process and consistent application of disciplinary measures. For staff, the training emphasizes the proper documentation of incidents and the steps required to escalate a report to the appropriate administrative level.
The goal is to ensure that when a bullying incident is reported, it is handled swiftly, thoroughly, and in compliance with both district policy and state law, ultimately leading to a safer educational environment for all students across the county.
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