Schools

District Solicits Input on Bullying Policy

After the legislature's approval of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, districts must revise existing bullying policies.

The district is seeking residents’ input on its new bullying, harassment and intimidation policy, in response to the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights signed into law earlier this year.

The policy, 5512, is up for first reading at the Board of Education’s Monday meeting, since it will need to be approved by Sept. 1. The typical policy approval process requires a proposal to undergo two public input sessions and two board votes before being adopted.

“There’s a brand-new Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights act that requires us to have this particular language adopted by September 1,” Policy Committee Chairman Judy Haas said. “I hope you will become very familiar with it because it involves a whole bunch of administrative changes, it involves community involvement and it is a very very important initiative.”

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Though the district has had a bullying policy since 2002, the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights legislation would change several definitions and change the methods for handling incidents.

The legislation originated with a December 2009 report from the New Jersey Commission on Bullying in Schools, which put a spotlight on harassment among children. But it gained heightened attention after the death of Ridgewood's Tyler Clementi, who leapt to his death off the George Washington Bridge after his Rutgers University roommate allegedly streamed video of Clementi having intimate contact with another man over the Internet. 

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The bill requires school districts to form school safety teams and appoint anti-bullying coordinators. A Department of Education fund will be used to provide grants to offer training to school district employees.

 The bill requires teachers to undergo suicide prevention courses and mandates school districts to have comprehensive policies on anti-bullying and harassment. It aims to protect young people by raising awareness of bullying, harassment and intimidation in schools and to prevent instances of abuse by ensuring schools take a hard line against such conduct.

Additionally, district policy will require responses to incidents of bullying that occur off school grounds, such as on a school bus or school-sponsored function. The legislation defines harassment, intimidation and bullying to include any harassing gesture, whether made verbally, physically or through electronic means.

But that policy will need to be written, undergo its two reading and public comment—which districts are required to solicit—prior to that deadline.

“What we’re trying to do is, because of the September 1 deadline and the fact that we only have one meeting (each) in July and August at this point .  .  .we’re going to create a survey to get public input,” Haas said. “It will be just a very open-ended public survey for comments.”

The 20-page policy is available on the district’s website, as is the input survey. The district intends to send an instant alert message to parents to increase the number of survey responses, Haas said.

The policy will require that verbal complaints be recorded in writing the day the complaint is made and may require hiring a staff member to handle bullying complaints, Haas noted. The policy will establish a time line for bullying complaints and action, making it hard for an existing staff member to handle the recording and reporting duties.

“It’s very hard not to have a staff member dedicated to doing this, because of stuff that might happen when they’re involved with other duties” Haas said. “It’s hard to get in by the schedule because the schedule is pretty tight.”

The policy also institutes an appeal process for bullying complaints.

“The goal, of course, is to be very strong and very serious about fighting bullying and harassment and intimidation,” Haas said. “The nice thing is New Jersey has always been a leader in this area. Other states have always looked to New Jersey for policy guidance in this particular area and now we’re taking it even a step further.”


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