School officials say they have strong policies to deal with bullying
As state lawmakers consider a measure that would require Pennsylvania schools to have anti-bullying policies in place, area superintendents say that they already are addressing bullying within their districts. “We have policies that parallel that type of thing,” said Laurel Highlands School District superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba. “It is something that we are working on, anyway, but if they have some guidelines for us, I’d love to see what they have.”
According to Sheba, Laurel Highlands is looking at more than just a policy. Officials have been meeting with members of the local clergy to create a program for fac.ulty and students that goes beyond bullying to cover tolerance issues, intimidation and non-acceptance. Sheba said that while bullying in his district is not a problem, it does exist and that having a policy is only the first part of the equation.
“You can have a lot of policies, but it is more the enforcement of those policies that helps,” he said.
While Sheba thinks that the state’s involvement can help, Southeastern Greene School District superintendent Dr. Philip Savini thinks that schools already address the problem through other codes and programs.
“I think every school already handles these types of issues through their discipline codes,” Savini said. “I think that it should remain that way, because if you create a policy, you are tying our hands and it may be too narrow a view.”
Savini said that while bullying in his district is not too serious, the schools are taking preventative steps to keep bullying from occurring.
“I don’t think it is that serious. We have a very strict discipline code. We recently had our school psychologist talk to our children, our grade seven to 12 group, about those types of activities,” he said.
While Sheba and Savini say they don’t have a high incidence of bullying at Laurel Highlands and Southeastern Greene, according to the Associated Press, a 2001 American Medical Association survey of 15,000 sixth- through 10th-graders revealed 30 percent of students either were bullied or admitted to bullying. The survey found that nearly half of sixth-graders were bullied and that 13 percent admitted to being harassed at least once each week.
These figures prompted lawmakers to introduce Senate Bill 46, which would require all Pennsylvania school districts to establish policies against abuse, harassment and bullying. Erika Harold, the reigning Miss America, who was bullied as a child, is spearheading the bill.
The bill would require all school districts to create a policy within 120 days and submit an annual report to the state Department of Education regarding their new policy and any other preventative measures taken. Schools that do not comply would face no sanctions, but they would lose out on incentives, such as grants for policy compliance.
Despite the bill’s purpose, other local superintendents think that it is simply requiring what already has been done.
Dr. Charles Rembold, superintendent of the Jefferson-Morgan School District, said that schools already have bullying programs in place and that prevention is the key to fighting bullying trends.
“When I first became superintendent, I had the district pass a whole child philosophy model as an operational code as to how students should be treated, and rather than just focusing on the intellectual dimension, we focused on building support systems for kids, and the bullying is just one part of that,” Rembold said. “With bullying, a lot of the students’ self-esteem is really destroyed, and school districts who are not in tune and not paying attention to that, they need to be aware.
Rembold added that parents working in conjunction with the schools are the key to success.
Carmichaels Area School District Superintendent James Zalar agreed.
“We have programs in place in the school curriculum, starting in kindergarten, that address respect and attitude and how to cope with someone who is being belligerent or nasty, and parental involvement is also key,” he said.
According to Zalar, Carmichaels has a progressive procedure in place to deal with issues like bullying.
“When a kid first starts interacting in a negative way, the counselors talk to them and the teachers talk to them, and they try to quell that at that level. It is documented, and if that student proceeds in that behavior, then it goes to the next level of the discipline code: in-school suspension. And, at every level, the parents are notified, because we feel that the parents and the school working together quells that type of behavior most quickly,” he said.
Zalar added that after in-school suspension, the code then moves to out-of-school suspension and then possibly to a disciplinary hearing before the school board.
Walter Vicinelly, superintendent for Albert Gallatin Area School District, said his district also operates on a progressive system, but he said he is taking steps to further the district’s policies on bullying before any regrettable incident occurs.
“We do not have a specific anti-bullying policy right now; however, we do have references related to the student discipline policy,” he said.
“One thing that we have done is in our crisis plan. We have developed a protocol for teachers to follow when the students report bullying incidents to them.
“We also have been exploring different programs, bullying prevention programs. Some of our elementary schools have individually been implementing prevention programs, but districtwide we have not adopted one, but we are looking into one,” Vicinelly said.
Last September, a student at Albert Gallatin Area High School was brutally attacked by two students. The assault left the 18-year-old with multiple fractures to the face and jaw and with his mouth wired shut. It is incidents like this that have many superintendents, including Vicinelly, looking toward prevention rather than disciplinary action.
“I think districts recognize the importance of student safety, and I think districts recognize the importance of prevention programs. Whether the state mandates it or not, I think the districts are trying to provide the safest environment.”