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School Health Advisory Board offers four-stage bullying recommendations and a new student survey
Summary
The School Health Advisory Board presented staged recommendations on bullying prevention and response, including clarifying definitions (Code of Virginia citation), annual staff training, school climate activities, targeted interventions and a twice‑annual anonymous student survey to better track bullying by grade level.
Jabri Poe, a School Health Advisory Board member, presented a multi-stage set of recommendations to the Lynchburg City School Board aimed at strengthening bullying prevention and response across district schools.
Poe opened by reading the Code of Virginia definition of bullying and cited the statute: “Bullying means an aggressive or unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim,” and referenced Code of Virginia §22.1‑276.01. He said the committee’s work is organized in four stages: policy clarity and reporting, establishing a positive culture, targeted touch points and interventions, and individual support strategies.
Among the recommendations were clearer messaging about where and how students can report bullying (including keeping Speak Up and trusted‑adult lists prominently posted), strengthened annual staff training to distinguish teasing from bullying, student‑led anti‑bullying clubs, assemblies and digital‑safety education, and restorative approaches and individualized behavior plans for repeat perpetrators. The committee proposed a new anonymous, grade‑detailed student survey administered twice a year (beginning of year and end of year) to measure prevalence and program effectiveness.
Board members asked whether the district’s new cell‑phone policy has reduced electronic bullying; presenters said the survey would help answer that question once implemented. Poe said the committee intends its recommendations to be practical and to rely on evidence-based prevention already used in elementary schools, while expanding supports at middle and high school levels.
