Caroline County Public Schools staff introduced two community partners who presented ongoing bully‑prevention and healthy‑relationship education for students.

Jennifer Bateman, a school‑based prevention specialist with the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB), described the Second Step bully‑prevention curriculum that RACSB delivers to elementary classrooms. She said the four lesson, story‑based units run about 20–30 minutes each and teach students to “recognize, report and refuse” bullying behavior, use mixed media, and practice skills for positive bystander action. RACSB staff noted the program is provided at no cost to the division and that scheduling adjustments (for example, two 40‑minute blocks instead of four 20‑minute lessons) have been used successfully to deepen discussion.

“Students will know how to recognize bullying when it’s happening, how to report to a caring adult, and to refuse bullying for themselves or others,” Bateman told the board.

Jacqueline Olivera, services director with Empowerhouse (a local domestic‑violence agency), outlined Empowerhouse’s school‑based presentations and multi‑week group curricula that address bullying, healthy friendships for middle schoolers and healthy relationships for high schoolers. Olivera said Empowerhouse is in the third year of a prevention grant and reported outreach numbers reaching thousands of students; the presentation cited prior year totals of roughly 3,900 students reached district‑wide.

Both presenters emphasized partnership with school counselors, principals and school resource officers to ensure lessons fit into busy instructional days and to support follow‑up for students who need additional services.

Ending: The board agreed the partnerships expand the district’s preventive scope and encouraged continued collaboration between school staff and community providers.