Bias Incident Response

A bias incident is any hostile expression that may be motivated by another person’s race, color, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. A hate crime, known as a bias crime under Oregon law, is any crime where the perpetrator’s motivation is based on bias. Both bias incidents and crimes can be verbal, physical, or visual, and can target someone in a protected class, a family member, or even someone incorrectly perceived to be in a protected class.

Examples: 

Reporting bias incidents that target students, administrators, faculty, or staff will inform GAPS district authority and provide support, intervention, and education to those involved. The Bias Incident Report form is designed to collect testimonies and data to provide relevant professional development opportunities to improve GAPS district culture and school communities. This form is a place where affected students and families can document issues they encounter in district learning spaces, properties, programs and events.

Once the Bias Incident Report form has been submitted, the feedback provided will circle back to building or department leads for further follow up. Although this is not an investigation unit, this form is a tool for recognizing needs in the GAPS community.