School District Reviews Progress of New Bullying Policies

School administrators discussed the district's implementation of anti-bullying and harassment initiatives during a mandated mid-year assessment at the January meeting. 

Tougher bullying legislation was . It requires that school districts train staff, fully investigate incidents and establish panels to deal with bullying.

Throughout Manchester schools, 66 harassment, intimidation or bullying incidents have been investigated through December. Of those, 40 were determined to be violations of the HIB policy, said Superintendent of Schools David Trethaway. Additionally, there were 65 acts of violence or vandalism reported in the district.

"That's much more significant than any years past because this year every HIB case is considered," Trethaway said. "HIB cases could be just as easy as a situation in first grade, or a situation in 12th grade. It could involve threats or name calling. There are a lot of different criteria."

There were 16 confirmed HIB incidents at the high school, seven at the middle school, 18 in the township's three elementary schools and three at the Manchester-run Regional Day School in Jackson.

Though some may see 65 cases as a large amount, Director of Student and Administrative Services Kevin Burger, who serves as the district's anti-bullying coordinator, said that it shows the schools investigate all perceived incidents of HIB.

"I think it says that the district is very serious about this," he said. This means that something as seemingly benign as an inappropriate comment will be looked into. 

"We're not going to ignore that," Burger said. "I think our kids are getting the message that it's wrong and will not be tolerated."

In some cases, students did not know what they were doing was wrong, may have thought they were fooling around or did not realize what they were saying was hurtful.

"We take this part of the education very seriously," Trethaway said.

The incidents investigated also include happenings outside of school, which is something the district was not required to address prior to the passage of the legislation.

Of the HIB violations, 16 were in protected classes including race, religion, sexual orientation and special needs.

"The laws have changed, making for much more demanding criteria for categorizing HIB, whether it's kindergarten or the 12th grade," Trethaway said.

Burger meets with the anti-bullying specialist appointed at each school to look at the cases. From there, they form recommendations to help Trethaway and the board determine how HIB incidents can be reduced.

"He's responsible for taking a look at different areas where there is consistency, whether there are particular areas where HIB happens, whether there are particular students who are affected and what programs or changes we can make," Trethaway said. "It's not only individual cases, but looking at the total problem of bullying."

Though the investigation and reporting process is now more standardized under the law, Burger said that bullying is something the district has been addressing "all along." 

Though there were "a few kinks" with the filing and recording system, Burger said that is now working.

"The staff has been very responsive," he said.

Parents have also been involved with the changes, Trethaway said. 

"At the same time we're going through this process, we're training parents," he said. Parents have been updated with letters and those with children involved with HIB cases are kept in the loop, though some information such as witness statements is confidential and cannot be revealed to parents. 

Dipositions for offending students include in and out of school suspensions, parent conferences, counseling, bus reassignment, loss of privileges or an apology, Trethaway said.

Board of education president Donald Webster and some residents questioned if HIB mandates were taking away time counselors spend on other aspects of their job, such as helping students prepare for college admissions.

"I can't say that it hasn't had an impact," Trethaway said. "We're going to make sure that impact gets lesser and lesser as we move on."

But the district hopes that educating the students will decrease the amount of cases and workload for counselors in the future.

"In the long run, it's going to pay off for us," Burger said.

Barbara Ambler, president of the Manchester Township Education Association, pointed out that the bullying law states that counselors cannot be paid extra even though they are taking on additional duties. 

"Certainly we're not unfamiliar with unfunded mandates," Trethaway said. "We're looking at maybe training additional people to spread it out."

Upcoming changes to the district's plan include training additional staff, including cafeteria workers, and adding additional cameras to the bus fleet.

An $8,000 safety grant recently received by the district, supplemented by $12,000 of district money, will be used to install video cameras on all of the district's large buses. Going forward, each new bus purchased will have a camera, and when buses are removed from service its camera will be moved to a smaller bus, Trethaway said.

"That has served as a big help for the administration to see what's been going on on the school buses," Trethaway said.

Trethaway said that students will have a greater chance for success if they are able to focus on their educations rather than worry about bullying.

"It's important to understand that students can't learn unless they're safe and in a good environment," he said.

The numbers for each school in the district are available below:

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