LITTLE ROCK — The Little Rock School Board on Thursday approved a framework of a plan for reducing student bullying that includes a new pre-kindergarten-through-high school curriculum, a streamlined bully-reporting system and the formation of a district/ community anti-bully advisory committee.
The board also gave preliminary approval to a change in the district’s policy against bullying that defines the act, in part, as intentional harassment, ridicule or threat that is repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time by a student or against another student or school employee.
The board unanimously adopted the framework recommended by Superintendent Morris Holmes and his staff despite requests earlier in the meeting from Hispanic and other organizations to be included in preliminary planning and that any anti-bullying measures have a proven record of success.
Holmes told the board that the framework has room for “myriad” additions.
“The community should never feel or think the administration has put up a barrier to their input,” Holmes said.
Board member Jody Carreiro made the motion to approve the plan.
“This is the starting point, not the ending point,” Carreiro said at one point in the two-hour presentation and discussion.
“Everything needs to be filtered through the community,” he added later. “We need the community to be involved in this. This is not something this board can do, and if we pretend we can address bullying by ourselves, we are running a fool’s mission. We have to have various representatives help us ... so we can do our primary responsibility, which is educating children.”
The advisory committee, which will provide assistance to the School Board on the bullying issues - particularly in regard to policy - will be made up of 13 board appointees from organizations such as the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Parent-Teacher Association, the Principals’ Roundtable, the Little Rock Education Association employees union, the Clinton Foundation and Just Communities. There will also be representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, as well as middle- and high school students.
The board is expected to name the committee members in January, which is also when principals and assistant principals will receive training for the newly selected Bully Proofing Your School curriculum.
Sarla Thral of Denver, a certified trainer in the curriculum, told the board that the program begins at the earliest grades to teach children to defend themselves against bullies, to help bullies change their behavior and to guide the 85 percent of students who are neither bullies nor victims to be active defenders against bullies.
In addition to principals, two people from each school will be trained, and they in turn will train other adults at their schools in the curriculum.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell L. Griffen, who is also pastor of the New Millennium Church and a community leader on anti-bullying, told the board early Thursday evening that the district plan “suffers from glaring flaws” regarding inclusiveness and research.
He said after the board votes that his concerns were not allayed. He compared the board’s acts to poor planning on the firing range.
“If you are a millimeter off course when the round [of ammunition] leaves the tube, the further down range you go, the further off course you are,” Griffen said. “The time to get it right is not after it leaves the tube, not on the ground down-range. Tonight, the board approved to shoot down range without having valid firing data. We wouldn’t do that with artillery in practice rounds. That the School Board would do that with our children is a travesty.”
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 12/21/2012