Manassas schools outline updated bullying procedures, parental notification and divisionwide Sources of Strength rollout

Manassas City Public Schools officials presented an overview of bullying prevention, reporting and investigation practices Tuesday, telling the school board they have clarified roles for counselors and administrators, strengthened documentation in PowerSchool, and will expand the Sources of Strength program divisionwide. "Our staff is trained to promptly report any bullying allegations to an administrator or school counselor," said Stephanie (Steph) Jones, Student Support Coordinator, adding that administrators — not counselors — are responsible for investigations and discipline decisions. Jones said documentation improvements and training seek to prevent incidents from being overlooked and to create a reliable record of supports and interventions. Betty Jo Wenham, Director of School Leadership, told the board that parental notification is required within 24 hours when a bullying investigation is initiated for both the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator. She described a distinction between informal log entries and formal incident records: log entries are day‑to‑day notes; incidents are recorded code-of-conduct violations. Wenham said the division has improved the process for prior authorization of longer suspensions and is piloting an alternative education program for some students. School counselor Tammy Schafer described school-level prevention and intervention tools: classroom lessons defining bullying, small-group and individual counseling (which require parental permission), peer mediation when appropriate, and schoolwide activities such as bully-awareness weeks. She said the Sources of Strength pilot produced a 30 percent reduction in some counseling requests at one pilot school while noting other factors may have contributed. Board members asked about thresholds for mediation, documentation follow-up, law‑enforcement notification and consequences. Wenham said law enforcement is notified only when an allegation reaches the level of a reportable crime; administrators maintain due process by collecting witness statements and providing each student an opportunity to be heard. The presenters emphasized that restorative practices and progressive discipline are part of the range of possible responses. Ending: Staff told the board they will continue training for administrators and counselors, expand Sources of Strength K–12, and monitor documentation improvements in PowerSchool; no ordinance or board-level policy change was adopted at this meeting.