After administrators met with staff and students regarding proposed changes to the school's bullying policy, the California Board of Education Dec. 14 approved most suggestions from the Missouri School Boards' Association.
The board first discussed the policy change in October. But Superintendent Dwight Sanders recommended tabling the vote until administrators could attend training and they could create a method to "engage stakeholders," the policy states.
The new bullying policy "will definitely change the way we do things," Sanders said.
For example, the policy requires an investigation to begin within 48 hours and to be concluded within 10 school days.
One change the California district made to the original association suggested policy was identifying the high school assistant principal as the primary source for reporting, as that is how it currently is handled.
The change in policy also creates a simple, standardized reporting form.
It defines a 14-day window from time of report through investigation to conclusion.
"We're naive to think bullying doesn't exist in a district of 1,600 students," Sanders said. He clarified bullying is a recurrent behavior, not an isolated incident.
During the discussions with student leaders, Sanders said the overall feedback was that cyberbullying is more of an issue than overt or physical bullying.
In the future, they will provide training at the lower grade levels for what to do if someone is a bystander or a victim.
"Sometimes students are either aggressive or passive," Sanders said. "We want our students to be assertive and handle themselves appropriately."
The school may look at other proactive ways to prevent bullying, such as a box to receive anonymous tips, a cyberbullying hotline or an e-mail-a-teacher program.
"We know it exists," Sanders said. "If it interferes with a victim's ability to learn, if a kid feels victimized, his focus is on on academics."
The board also revisited another school boards' association suggested policy that was tabled at the November meeting.
The concern had been federal regulations regarding the bid process and contractors would seriously affect future board decisions.
Sanders researched the matter and discovered the federal direction would apply only to projects using federal dollars. Only 8 percent of the school's current budget, the bulk of which is for salaries and benefits, is federally-funded.
In other business, the board heard from Evers and Company that the school's audit went well.
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