BELLVILLE — Recent concerns voiced by parents in the Clear Fork school district have led to a review of its bullying policies.
Melissa Ousley questioned board members about the “zero tolerance” element of the school’s current policy.
Dan Freund said he does not like a “zero tolerance” policy because “there are often ‘gray areas’ and sometimes we get it wrong.” He acknowledged the need to listen to the student’s side before carrying out a suspension.
Board president Kyle Beveridge agreed saying he is not in favor of “zero tolerance” policies. Beveridge said the district will look into changing some of the student handbook in the future.
Earlier concerns about bullying in the schools prompted a presentation to the board by Middle School Principal Jennifer Klaus. She explained terminology used by her school and reviewed recent statistics for the board.
Klaus explained that the office receives numerous complaints that, upon further investigation, may not technically rise to the level of bullying. She said these behavior issues likely fall within three categories: rude, mean, or bullying.
According to these categories, rude behavior is something committed by students that is inadvertent, such as name calling. She reminded the board that her school contains middle-school age children who often do not think before saying what is on their minds.
Mean behavior covers intentional acts that are frequent among this age group. She said that 72 percent of the complaints received include non-respectful actions by students.
To define bullying, Klaus said three components have to be in place.
“It has to be intentionally aggressive, continuous, and involve an imbalance of power,” to be considered bullying.
Klaus said the school recorded statistics for a five-week period. A total of 63 incidents were recorded that involved more than just bullying. Most of the disciplinary actions, 59 percent, originated in class. The top three reported behaviors addressed were: disrespect, immature acts, and cell phone violations.
School officials agree that a lot of behavior, including bullying, goes unreported. Klaus said students are often reluctant to go to someone in person.
To address this problem, the middle school has launched an online reporting form. The form is accessible to students through their online classroom modules. It also provides data for school officials to track what is happening.
Klaus said the school has up to 10 programs in place to address character education. These are featured primarily in sixth and seventh grades. The school attempts to intervene, explain better behavior patterns for rude behavior while taking disciplinary actions against mean behavior and bullying.
Disciplinary actions can include meeting with the principal, lunch detentions, or suspension.
Another program being sought by the school is one that will give students skills to respond to bullying. She noted that people will face bullying behaviors beyond school years.
Teachers are pursuing grants to enable the school to provide this program next year. The board says they will continue to monitor the situation. Beveridge noted that because of technology, bullying is now a full time issue and not just something that happens during the school day.
Entering the mix is new board member Lori McKee, appointed by the board at the end of their meeting. McKee fills the unexpired term of Jennifer Stallard ending Dec. 31, 2019.
Stallard was elected last fall and began to serve with the board in January. McKee is a controller at the North Central State College and the treasurer of their foundation.
The board also extended a three-year contract to Superintendent Janice Wyckoff.
The board and administration are overseeing two elementary school building projects and staff turnover in the district. Stacey Swank was recently appointed interim principal at Bellville Elementary.
The board recognized teacher Bev Knell’s retirement, following 29 years in the middle school.
