All right, thank you all for joining us this afternoon. We know everybody's uh got a busy schedule, so we're going to just start uh immediately. We do want to emphasize we've uh been studying some data for quite some time for the past
year, seeing some issues that we wanted to flag. Um and also uh wanted to discuss uh what we currently have in district uh and also where we plan on moving. uh in the future. So I'm gonna let uh Dr. Wayable introduce herself
before we start uh the presentation. You're muted car and what I was saying was amazing. So um so uh hi everyone. I am Dr. Carrie Wel. I am uh the director of data planning, research and evaluation. Um what that
means is I wear a lot of hats and one of them is working with students who were bullied and our bullying uh support system. So um we do a presentation on bullying every year for families. Um it is generally um we don't get a high
attendance. We did it in person once, we did it at night once. So, we're trying a lunch and learn um because although it's a busy time for families, sometimes they can uh scoot out, eat a sandwich, and and learn more. So, um it's a it's a timely topic. Um so, what we're going to
do is really walk through what our process is, um what our partnership with families um is, what our goals are for this year, um and and a lot of different areas around HIV. Um and then we'll open
to some questions um once we finish. If you have questions about the process um we'll go from there. So let me share my screen. Okay. And Mr. Bing, if you can tell me if you are seeing my screen, that would be
great. >> Yep, you're up and running. Okay, perfect. Um, so really I just like to point out the title is really this is about empowering our kids um to feel like they have agency
um during situations that are complicated for them and also to support them through um any concerns if there is bullying. Uh there's no expectation that any child should be bullied in school and we adamantly
uh feel that all children and all schools should be bully free bullying free. Um but we also recognize that that's not the case. Um and so we're going to you know we continue to work forward and support our kiddos. So I just wanted to give you a little
picture. Each year um we work together with anti-bullying specialists and we look at our data from the year before and we talk about some big goals that the district works on uh for bullying. So I just wanted to share last year's and this year's. I thought it would be a
good place to start. Um so this is last year's uh goals. Okay. So, uh, last year we increased protected time for and learning opportunities, um, for school climate and bullying
prevention and social emotional learning. Uh, we expanded training for all of our teachers and staff around social emotional learning and HIV training. HIV is harassment, intimidation, and bullying. I'll say that a few times because it's short for
for our uh, educe speak. Um and and we included information last year on who are some students that are at high higher risk for bullying. Um and so that was part of our staff training. We also expanded opportunities for families
around bullying. So in addition to our bullying night that we offer for parents today it's a lunch and learn. We also started sending out letters when we do our bullying uh curriculum. Um and then we expanded our training with our anti-bullying specialists regarding the
investigation process. So that all took place last year. What we're working on this year um and none of these goals are ever completed because we always feel like we could build but uh they were completed for the sense of we did what we wanted to do last year.
This year, um, we talked about providing and our goals, we're providing more lessons around digital citizenship. We're still working on that. Um, expanding training for social emotional
learning for our teachers and how to support students when negative interactions occur. Um so we've done a lot of work around that for in our um restorative justice training in social emotional learning training um expanding
opportunities for families. We're doing uh a series next week around digital citizenship for families um and building additional supports for students who have bullied or who have initiated interactions with negative uh
interactions negatively with peers. So, that's all that we're working around. I would say we are um closing in on completing these goals. I do believe one of them we're going to move to next year just to continue and really expand around that. Um and that's continuing
our idea around lessons with digital citizenship. So, just as a reminder for all of you in CA or in case you didn't know, there is an anti-bullying specialist at every single school. Um, at the high school
there are two. Um, and so this is a list of anti-bullying specialists. They're also on our website. Um, and so and and Dr. Gilbert is our anti-bullying coordinator. So, he would be the next person in line. If you have questions, you can also always reach out to me. So
these are the elementary schools and these are this this is the secondary schools and the anti-bullying specialists are really responsible for um one conducting the investigation if there's a bullying investigation determining if it is a bullying
investigation is needed. Um and also supporting the kiddos once they're done uh once the situation has happened. What does the alleged victim need? what does the person who who was uh not acting kind need what are those next steps? So
they work with the principal to really talk about those next steps and help support the students. So just to look at our our data um so the red number is just total number of students. Um so in our elementary school
last year we had 43 investigations total incidences 10 of those were founded. At the middle schools we had 35 uh bullying incidences that were investigated seven of those were founded. And at the high school 19 and four of those were
founded. Um and so what that means it was founded means it was considered bullying. And we're going to go through that a little bit because you can have a very mean moment and it may not rise to the legal threshold of bullying, but it
doesn't mean it didn't happen and it doesn't mean it's not important and we have to address it. Um, so I think that's an important note to to address. So um, in 2011 uh 10 and 11 the state put
together a legal definition of bullying. Um this was after a significant bullying case um at the collegiate level. And so we they put together this uh definition. And so bullying looks different in every state across the country. New Jersey has
a very specific law as to what bullying is. Um so first something has to happen written gesture physical act electronic whatever it is something has to happen. Um, and the second part of that is it has to be motivated. So, the action has
to happen because of a student's perceived or actual characteristic. And we'll get into what that is, but you can uh think about someone's race, someone's color, religion, gender, something like that.
Um the second uh the the third idea is it has to happen this is this is my favorite either on school or off school grounds. So bullying, they did not, it can happen anywhere. It can happen in your home. And I love that
New Jersey did that because um it really shows that we are committed that if someone is being bullied on the cell phone um on some other form of technology, we are still supporting that student, we're still responsible for
supporting that situation. So on school grounds, off school grounds, on a bus, at the park, doesn't matter. If it happens and it's bullying, it would still be um you know, we would still work with you and and with the children. The fourth part is it has to
substantially disrupt or interfere with either the whole school or the rights of a particular student. Um and we're going to get into a little bit more about what that means. If you look at the last column, this is a uh has to be one. So,
a person that child's age should know that they're that that they shouldn't do what they're doing or the situation was demeaning and insulting or it created a hostile environment. Um, it doesn't have to be all three. It can only be one. It
only has to be one. Okay. So I wanted to talk about the motivation a little bit just so that everyone understands. Um so I always like to think of this is I I grew up in in the
80s. So um you know it's a little different than than the 1980s definition of bullying. Uh the action has to be motivated by an actual or perceived characteristic. So what's an actual characteristic? Could be all of these protected classes and groups on the
left. uh age, ancestry, um nationality, race, religion, uh gender, gender identity, all of those. Other examples might be weight. It doesn't have to be a protected class, right? It could be weight, housing
status, um socioeconomic status, the fact that you have divorced parents, the fact that you have, you know, uh two parents who are uh both male, any of that. and perceived characteristic. Um,
they put that in because you could be someone could be making fun of you because you are perceived as a particular sexual orientation, a perceived as a person of a particular religion, right? And so it has to be
motivated by anything such as this. Um, and perceived weakness is also that. So if you think of like again the 1980s like if someone's picking on the weaker student that is a perceived characteristic. Um
okay so just to look at some the motivating factors. So, um, of all of our HIVs last year, that this does add up to, um, over the amount of HIVs we had because you
might have more than one, um, motivating factor in in HIV, right? Someone be might be made fun of because of their gender and their race, for example. Um, so these are all of the um, if you notice, appearance is the number one
reason why we have bullying investigations. Um, race, color, and ethnicity is next. Um, gender and gender identity, uh, perceived weakness, ancestry, the ones all the way to the left that are not identifiable
means that it wasn't categorized as an as an HIV. It's not bullying. Doesn't mean it wasn't mean. doesn't mean it wasn't didn't happen. We didn't take care of it, but it was not considered a bullying situation. Um, and religion is not up here, but I
will say we do have um bullying uh situations around religion uh in the 2023 24 year and uh and this year again. So, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Just to talk a little bit about also the
the legal implications of what is an HIV. um an HIV ha bullying situation has to disrupt the student's education. So some of the questions our anti-bullying specialists might ask is how long did a student miss school? Did they miss
class? Was it for 20 minutes or did they miss five classes? Um did their academic performance suffer? Right? So, if a student goes back to playing with the student the next day as if nothing happened, that would not be substantial
disruption. If the student's sad for 20 minutes because something mean happened and then they went back to school wouldn't be substantial disruption. And and the last part, a parent's disruption. I'm a mom of four and I feel deeply when my kids are upset. Um, and
so when someone's being mean to my kid, sometimes I'm not sleeping, right? That's not substantial disruption, even though it's substantial disruption to me because it's not to their education. Okay. So, um, behavior, negative behavior falls generally into three
categories in schools, right? The first one being what we're talking about. Is it HIV? is the situation, whatever it is, whether it was a text message, uh someone uh a verbal altercation, someone being pushed, does it fit HIV?
It may or may not. The second question is, is it a code of conduct violation? As you know, we send out our code of conduct every year. Um, and there are certain things you can't do in schools. So, something might not be HIV, but it
could be a code of conduct violation. It could be both. It could be both. The third thing it could be is a student conflict, right? Someone is mean to me. What do I do in that situation? Or two students are having an argument. How do
we navigate this? And so, um, I would just mention that our our role as a school is to support every one of these situations. Um, and I know sometimes it can be hard to hear that something didn't fall into a a bullying category,
but I always like to let parents know when I was a principal is doesn't matter what it eventually is called. I want to we want to support your kids no matter what so we can move forward. Um, and so they can feel like they there's been some resolution.
So I like to point out the difference in conflict and bullying because that is sometimes an area of confusion. So conflict is mutual opposing uh engagement, disagreements, fights, arguments. Uh the intent is not to
humiliate the other person. And conflict is definitely not only a normal part of growing up, but it's a normal part of being an adult. Bullying is really one-sided. um causes harm, is meant to diminish the sense of worth of someone
else and continues even when someone is distressed. Um and in our case, New Jersey, it's linked to a real or perceived characteristic. Remember, because if it's not linked, then it's it is not considered bullying in the state of New Jersey.
Um also during conflict, there could be name calling, right? That that might occur. It might look like bullying, right? But it might not have those other characteristics. Um conflict people are normally equally involved in some of in
the disagreement. Um and it's mutual. So two students might be going back and forth and saying calling each other mean names. That is considered a conflict. Um whereas bullying, you have one person that really has un uh uninvited
aggression towards them and it's very one-sided. So, just to talk about a mean moment for a minute. Um, and it seems a little bit of a a a nicy word, but I I do want to say mean moments. Um, there may there are times
where students hurt each other's feelings uh and say something really mean. Um, and I would go as far as it might be insensitive and hurtful and even related to bias. Um, in the New Jersey law, if a student who is hurt
has the coping skills to move on from the situation, they may address it, they may walk away, they may talk at home with with you as a family. Um, we will still investigate that, but because it doesn't disrupt a student's education,
it would be considered a mean interaction. Um, and it wouldn't rise to bullying. However, if a student says something bias related, um, we do follow our bias protocol,
right? So, that doesn't mean that the student who's saying a bias related statement is going to not be addressed. It means it might not fall under it might fall under code of conduct instead. So schools really have uh different um
options to support our kiddos when when there's different uh areas. So for for HIV and and a lot of these are similar. If there's a bullying situation, we want to stop the bullying. We want to support our victim and we want to look at any skills or
gaps. So, the student who's bullying might have a skill or gap in their understanding or their learning, right? They might think that it's okay to call uh someone a derogatory name. They might not have skills on how to make friends.
They might not have skills of what to do when someone is in when they're in a conflict. Right? So, not only are we supporting the victim, but we also want to support the student who bullied. And we have lessons designed for that
purpose. Um, for code of conduct, again, we want to stop the violation. Whatever's happening, we want to stop it. If there's a victim, we also want to support the victim. We might do counseling or check-ins. Uh, same thing. We want to identify the skill or gap and
we want to teach the offender new strategies, new behavior strategies. Finally, if it's a student conflict, we really want to teach students how to build capacity in healthy conflict, right? Conflict's normal. It's going to
happen. How do we do it? How do we talk to each other if we're really upset with each other and navigate that where we're not harming each other, but we're still figuring out our conflict? And sometimes we want to many times we want to also teach disengage, right? We
might not we might say everyone needs five minutes, everyone needs 24 hours. Um so that students would then uh disengage and then come back. And this is just another look at what that looks like, right? So how do we
support our victims? We might have a friendship group or check-ins or counseling. How do we support the the student who bullied uh or student who who did the code of conduct violation? Right? So, we might have lessons on bullying. We might have parent conferences, student
conferences. Um we have discipline outlined in our code of conduct. Um and just remember discipline comes from the um root word to teach or disciple, right? To teach. So, our discipline is always rooted in how to give a student
skills so that it doesn't happen again. Um, and I will say if a student bullies three or more times, they are legally mandated to have an intervention plan. And we do have some students on intervention plans.
Um, we also may do rebuilding, right? Whether that's mediation or restorative conversation, but all parties have to agree. So we don't force students into mediation uh or a restorative conversation. We bring students in um
only if both both students or both groups of students agree. Um and finally if there's a student conflict we always like to have student conversations with the kids separately identify any needs that the kids might have and then bring them together. Um
and we might have lessons on social skills based on those uh needs for the students. And I always like to say no matter what we call it, whether it's HIV, code of conduct or student conflict, kids will get what they need.
They can call anything whatever it falls into legally, they're going to get what they need. Um this is the timeline for bullying investigation is legally mandated timeline. So, um when someone informs of us of a situation, uh if a
teacher notifies us, the principal needs to be notified within one day. Um they then determine if they're moving forward with code of conduct or a bullying investigation um or if it's a student conflict. Um and the staff member, if the staff member
received it, they are writing a report. The anti-bullying specialist then has 10 days to complete the investigation. We try and get it done as quickly as possible so that everyone remembers what happened. Um, but sometimes there are more than one, so it takes a few days.
And once the investigation is completed, the principal reaches out to the families and lets them know uh next steps, what the investigation uncovered. Um, and then over a two-month period, our board of education reviews those cases and then sends an official letter
letter to the families whether it's founded or unfounded. Um, and that happens uh all each time. Uh, the only time generally when uh a bullying investigation might take longer is if for whatever reason um the police
are involved. That might take longer. Um if a student is out for an extended period of time, we normally would close it, find it unfounded, and then reopen it if when the student returns. Okay. So, I think it's really important
to partner with our families and and that's why we've really started to build some resources for you. We're going to show you some of them um in a little bit, but um you should have received letters in the beginning of the year. We have five bullying lessons in October
that our students receive um across the district. And just knowing um some of the words is really helpful like what is an upstander, which we'll talk about later. Um what to do if students are being bullied. Um and so supports at
school are really important. Building our students uh empathy and respect is really important not only at home uh but also at school. um partnering with our families and also building those social emotional learning skills, right? Because we notice that students who
bully bully tend to be lacking in social emotional skills and need support in that area. So the more we can build skills at our dinner tables, at our uh breakfast tables, um you know, at home, but also through our partnering in
literature and and our classes in small groups. How are kids interacting when they're talking about math? Right? All of that is part of anti-bullying education. So, just some things that we do at school, we celebrate the week of respect with our HIV lessons. We use the New
Jersey Bar Foundation lessons. Uh it's a series of five lessons created by the New Jersey Bar Foundation that is directly in line with New Jersey anti-bullying law. Um in the elementary schools we have morning meetings and we focus on social emotional learning
skills. Um we support social emotional with our social work intern programs through school counselors. Um administrators helping with in conflicts, teacher modeling and positive teachers modeling of positive social
skills. Anti-bullying is also part of our um health and PA PE curriculum. So health and PE has social emotional skills, cyber bullying, the definition of bullying, how to get help and what is a trusted adult and strategies on what
to do if you experience bullying. So all of that is part of our health and PE lessons um as students go through health and PE. So a little bit about our New Jersey State Bar Foundation curriculum. These are the f lessons and then we do the
sixth later on. So just the first one is really about just building relationships. Um and then lessons two, three and four and five are really about bullying. So what's bullying and what's conflict? We talk about that in one of the lessons.
Um recognizing the roles people play, right? If you are um if you are being uh bullying someone, if you are the victim, um how can we support those people? And then
um lesson four is about what is an upstander? I love upstanders. So a bystander is just someone who watches, right? An upstander is someone who stands up for someone who is being bullied. And we encourage all of our students, that doesn't mean you need to approach the bully. That might be
saying, "Come on, Jenna. Let's go play a different game, right?" And removing the student. That might be going up to an adult and saying, "I think Jenna needs some help." Right? You can be an upstander in lots of different ways. And we talk about that. And then lesson five
is responsible reporting. So this really talks about even as young as I when I was a principal of third through fifth, I literally heard third and fourth and fifth graders saying snitches get stitches, right? Oh my goodness. And so we talk about what's tattling and what's
telling, right? And we do that all the way through through the high school. There's something to be said. We need to tell an adult if something is is too much. If if someone needs help, right? That's different than tattling, right? Um and so we talk about that. And then
we talk about um assessment and action is is a later lesson. Um so these are are great lessons um that really help our students Um, we also really want to continue to promote empathy and respect. So, helping
children understand other people's feelings. Um, and just to partner with you, you can do that um when you're watching a movie together on the couch, when you're reading stories. Um, you know, I used to read uh novel novels. you know, our kids would do like uh the
Harry Potter series or something like that and we talk about like how is Hermione feeling or you talk about even when they're little, right? How is Blueie feeling? That kind of thing. Um helping children respect differences
they see in others. It's a great conversation for for the dinner table. And then modeling good communication, which I am great with at school and I 100% fr uh am less great as a as a mom
of four. So that's always something we want to think about uh when we're modeling communication at home. Uh we want to develop healthy social emotional skills. So how are our kids dealing with conflict resolution? We talk about that here. How do we do that
at home? um ask questions, get curious about children's interactions, um and making your view on bullying clear. Um and for us as well, we just sent out a letter to teachers just as a reminding point, a stop and remind over
the next two weeks. We are making we are reminding our students how we feel about bullying. We are talking about this again. Um and accepting children's mistakes and helping them grow. Um, I think that's really important when um your child uh maybe is uh doing
something that's not nice, which we they will all do, right? That happens. We do things that are not nice sometimes. Accept that that happened and help them make the next step, right? It's it's easy for us to get defensive as parents. Um but taking a step back and thinking
about how can I help my kid? Um we talk about the iMessage, right? I feel frustrated when this happens. Um how to listen and hear others and owning our part. Um so even uh you know when
there's a conflict, what could you have done differently, right? Um and then we talk about forgiving and forgetting when we're in relationship with with others. We like like to talk about self- advocacy, right?
We do a a single response districtwide. So the first thing for for K5, we talk about a hand up. If someone's being mean to you, you put a hand up and you say, "Stop. I feel sad." When you say those words. If that doesn't work and the student
doesn't stop, we say, "Okay, walk away." If that doesn't work and a student's still mean to you, you find an adult. So, we've been working with this uh this year. we've we've introduced this and so we we would love your partnership in that. Um more will be coming out next
year about how to uh videos and things like that for parents. Um that's that's that'll be part of our next step. Um but stop having the kids say why they don't like it, walk away, and then find an adult. And that can happen electronically as
well. So how to build these? Practice what to do during conflict. Read books that discourage prejudice. Um, read books about different people from from your family. Learn about social issues. All of these can help and we are doing these
as well in our school. Um, talking openly about acceptance of others. Um, and helping look at situations from multiple perspectives. Um, I know I have a you know some kiddos at home that that struggle with multiple perspectives. So,
we work on that a lot. Um, so upstanders and not bystanders. We talk about this a little bit. Um, we talk about if someone's being bullied, what can you do? Well, don't laugh and encourage it. Stay a safe distance and
get help get the victim away. Um, don't give the bully attention by watching or chiming in on a chat. Reach out to the victim in friendship. Uh you can support the victim in private if your uh student's a little nervous.
Um tell the student let's go do something else. Tell an adult. And we always say only take actions that are safe. Don't put yourself in harm's way. If you're in if someone's in harm's way, then you get an adult.
Um we talk about thinking before we posting. Uh I love this. It was in my house for a long time when I had teenagers on phones. before you post. Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? And is it kind?
So, a little bit about how to report proced uh bullying. So, there's a place on our website you can report uh an HIV. Um you can report it anonymously or not. You can also on the left you can let a teacher know, you can let the school principal know, you can let a school
counselor know. Um, all of our staff is trained to know what to do when a bullying concern comes to them. They would report it immediately to the principal within that same day. Um, so you can do any of those. Um, and we have I just wanted to share
Mr. Bang if you could let me know if this actually comes up. Uh, is my website show is the website showing? >> It's up. So, we just uh started an anti-bullying toolkit for educators and families. This is a brand new part of
our website. Um it is under a title line uh HIV and affirmative action um on the bottom here and it has all of our parent letters from all of our anti-bullying lessons. It is how to help your kid through
conflict, right? Giving them some steps. it is. Is it bullying? Right? Some questions you can talk to your students about uh at at home, your children at home. Um I put the definition of the bullying from New Jersey because it is a
little bit of a complicated definition. Um how to file a bullying investigation and our bullying FAQs is on here. Um we also have a bit about cyber bullying which we're going to do next week in our
lunch and learn. This is a good YouTube video and all of our anti-bullying specialists are on here too. Um, okay. And I we can share um a link to
this recording and we will share the um actually I can put this right in the chat right now. Hold on one second. >> So Carrie, quick question. >> Sure. um what do we do when a student has been falsely accused of a bullying and
written up at an HIB? What would the next steps be? >> Sure. So I think um first uh you are welcome to speak to the principal or the anti-bullying specialist and give information if you have some um so that's really important if the bullying
incident happened and you it's already been founded right so your student is uh is being claimed as the bully you disagree with that you are always able to appeal the decision to the board of education um you would do that it's it's
a little bit of a lengthy process. So, the board of education reads the bullying incidences and then sends you a letter after 60 days. Once you receive that letter, the board of education can review your case. Um, you can you would talk to them. You would have an appeal meeting. Um, and then they would
determine if they would uphold it or not. Um, and if you again don't like that decision, you are able to appeal it to the commissioner. All right. I am going to put my email in chat if anyone has anything further. Um because
uh I I hope uh if you have any questions, I would love you to follow up with me. Um I just want to make sure I'm writing it right. Yes. Um I'm also on the website uh and this will be posted. So I
appreciate everyone um for taking the time Thank you so much. Have a great day. Thank you. Thanks everyone. Thanks so much.