School District Adopts New Anti-Bullying Policy

The Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams officially adopted on Monday a new policy on intimidation, harassment and bullying.

Under a recently passed state law, all school districts are required to adopt such a policy, and Chatham school officials have been undergoing training on creating and upholding the policy. Assistant Superintendent Michael LaSusa said the district is required to adopt a policy and submit it to the county superintendent’s office by Sept. 1.

“In a nutshell, the legal definition of intimidation, harassment and bullying has changed a little and our policy needs to reflect that,” LaSusa said.

Since Gov. Chris Christie signed the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights earlier this summer, there have been ongoing training sessions for school boards. LaSusa said the district needs an anti-bullying coordinator, a position he himself will fill, and each school has its own team, chaired by an anti-bullying specialist.

“The school safety team at each school is to help foster an anti-bullying climate,” LaSusa said. “The law is very specific that one member has to be a parent of a child enrolled in that school.”

He added that the law is also specific that the parent, who is appointed by the principal, will be involved in such activities as planning anti-bullying assemblies, but will not be informed of or involved in specific reported incidents of bullying in order to protect the privacy of those involved.

LaSusa said there has been some discussion among district officials about whether the appointed parents should sign a confidentiality agreement. He said the concern is if an incident is not handled the way another parent wanted and that parent sued the district, it was initially unclear whether the volunteering parent would be covered by the district’s insurance.

LaSusa said the district’s attorney is adamant that there is no need for a confidentiality agreement because the law is clear on the volunteering parents’ level of involvement. The district’s insurance carrier also has said the parent would be covered because they are serving as a volunteer on the committee.

Before the policy is adopted, LaSusa said, the district first needs to have a code of student conduct in place that also reflects the changes in the law. He said it’s too late to get that information into the student handbook for this year, but it will be sent to parents and posted on the district’s website.

There was considerable discussion among board members and administrators about the portion of the policy that holds the school district responsible for intimidation, harassment and bullying that happens off school grounds, including electronic communication such as social networking sites and text messaging.

“There is a lot of case law about that very question,” Interim Superintendent Dennis Fyffe said. He said the law states the district is responsible for students from the time they leave the house until the time they get home after school.

The new law covers students even on weekends or summer break. LaSusa said the district has always had a standard of deciding whether bullying behavior substantially interferes with a child’s education.

“Case law holds school districts responsible for conduct that substantially affects the operation of the school or creates a hostile educational environment for the student or students involved,” LaSusa said. “Our school district has an anti-bullying policy in place now. It’s just that this is much more far-reaching.”

Fyffe added that the changes to the policy have raised considerable anxiety among many school districts across the state because of its far-reaching effects.

After much discussion on the wording of some of the code of ethics, board members agreed to vote on it in order to meet the county’s deadline for adopting the policy, although they will discuss and possibly tweak the wording at the next policy committee meeting. The policy passed unanimously.