Anti-Bullying Coordinator Trains BOE

As school boards across the state are still adapting to policies they've been forced to enact from the new , the Butler school district's Anti-Bullying Coordinator Robin Lavorato said there is still fine-tuning that needs to be done.

"It's an ever-changing situation for us, at least in the next year," she told the at a meeting Thursday.

Lavorato met with the board as part of their board member training requirements under the law. In addition to the training, board members are required to receive individual bullying reports from Superintendent Mario Cardinale and decide whether to affirm, modify or reject them.

Before the reports reach the board, Lavorato said a referrant must first report any incident of harassment, intimidation or bullying verbally within 24 hours (district employees can be found liable if it is discovered they did not report an incident). Within two days of a verbal report, a formal, written investigation must be initiatied with the school's Anti-Bullying Specialist (ABS) in conjunction with the building principal.

Even incidents that occur outside of school but effect the educational process or emotionally disturb the student during school hours are expected to be reported. Once the investigation is complete, the building principal decides on a consequence with the superintendent also having the ability to agree with or not agree with the consequence. The report is then passed on to the board of education.

After the board is able to decide whether they agree with the consequences issued, the district coordinator is responsible for reporting to the state.

While board members and superintendents statewide have over the tediousness of the process and amount of time that must be spent on the reporting process, Lavorato said the heart of the law's intentions are to change the behavior of bullies and to hopefully instill empathy in students who otherwise did not have it.

"These children have a lack of empathy," she said. "A lot of them, they really don't realize it was wrong."

She also said the law was designed to help administrators decide on consequences that could actually teach the bullies.

"The old detention, suspension, taking them out of lunch is not going to change their behaviors," she said.

Each student in each situation must individually be considered during the investigation, Lavorato said, and sometimes, district officials can even be proactive in curbing the bullying. Lavorato said the district and school officials should work on identifying kids who may be prone to bullying, including protected groups, minorities and weaker students.

"Poor hygiene is the reason some students are victimized," Lavorato said, adding that the school nurses should look out for students with poor hygiene and help educate them so that they are no longer potential bullying victims. This goes along with the concept of "changing the school climate to a more positive school climate," she said.

Family dynamic also has to be considered in each bullying situation, although confidentiality is maintained throughout the process as much as possible. Cardinale's reports to the board also do not include identifying information unless a parent appeals the consequences, at which point the board would meet with the parent in a closed session portion of a meeting.

Board Member Karen Smith asked Lavorato what happens next if a bullying report is filed on a bully, a consequence is issued and the offender repeats his or her actions.

"If another incident pops up after this happens, we may have to go to another extreme," Lavorato said.

Consequences that result from bullying incidents more often than not will include a counseling component, but in most extreme cases could result in expulsion, Lavorato said.

Board President Matt Lee said he would like to see the language of the law changed so that the board could either accept or reject the actions that were taken.

"'Affirm, reject or modify' seems to imply a more active role from the board," he said.

Board Member Cynthia Sokoloff also said the consequences could be out of the board's hands by the time the board members read the report, as action is required to be taken within a specified number of days.

"The consequences, in fact, will be imposed, in many cases, before we even see these reports," she said. "There's a lot of stuff that we really cannot and should not be privy to."

But because of this reason, Lavorato said the board has to believe in the ability of the district's chosen coordinator and specialists, who are paid a stipend for these responsibilities, to make the decisions on consequences to the best of their abilities.

Cardinale said he is proud of how the district has fared with adapting to the new regulations and, in his opinion, the district has gone above and beyond when it comes to enforcing the policy.

"I truly believe that we have exceeded the requirements of the law," he said.

He said that the district, with approval from the board, has created a strong support infrastructure that has kept the process efficient for the district.