The Northland Pines school board received the annual bullying report for the last school year showing bullying still exists among elementary and middle school students.
Bullying data is collected and reviewed each year and staff are trained to recognize and react to bullying events according to Director of Pupil Services Emily Rhode. “This last year we had 11 incidents of bullying, six in elementary schools and five in middle school,” Rhode told the board. “Nine cases were reported verbally, one by anonymous online, and one was a parent reporting.”
Of concern to Rhode were incidents involving students with disabilities with “one being the victim and two being the offenders.”
Pines reviews students with disabilities individual education programs to address self advocacy skills should they experience or engage in bullying behavior related to disabilities. Bullying resolution comes in a variety of ways including both in-school and out-of-school suspension, lunch detention, conversation monitoring, and is some cases referral to community agencies.
