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Peninsula School District rolls out districtwide bullying response: single handbook, behavior matrix and staff training
Summary
At its Sept. 23 meeting the Peninsula School District board received an update from the harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) task force on new trainings, a consolidated Rights & Responsibilities handbook, a uniform behavior matrix and reporting tools designed to improve consistency and data tracking across the district.
The Peninsula School District Board of Directors on Sept. 23 heard a progress report from the district's harassment, intimidation and bullying task force outlining new training, reporting and discipline changes intended to make responses more consistent across all 17 schools.
The task force presenter, Julie Schultz Bartlett, said the district has moved from 17 different handbooks to a single districtwide Rights & Responsibilities handbook and adopted a uniform behavior matrix aligned with Washington Administrative Code (WAC) expectations. "The number 1 thing is to say something along the lines of 'stop. That's not what we do here,' and then to report that," Schultz Bartlett told the board.
District leaders said the changes respond to inconsistent reporting and practices identified in a review begun last school year. Schultz Bartlett said principals received August training and were given shared slide decks and instructional resources for staff and students. The training uses an "PEACE" framework adapted from the Anti-Defamation League's materials to prepare staff to respond safely and consistently to discriminatory language.
Administrators will now use NAV 360 as the primary investigation and tracking system for alleged incidents; the district also links to an external reporting line, Hear Me WA, for anonymous or community reports. Schultz Bartlett said those systems and the expanded handbook aim to make timelines and appeals easier to follow. "When this happens we encourage you to respond and also to report," she said.
The update emphasized a first-year focus on discriminatory harassment and racialized slurs, along with classroom and grade-level lessons intended to give students concrete options for intervention. Schultz Bartlett said the district will screen an "upstanders" film across buildings during October's Bullying Prevention Month and will continue assemblies and grade-level instruction on bystander intervention and cyberbullying.
Board members asked about data quality; Schultz Bartlett and staff said recent variability in historical numbers reflects inconsistent coding across schools and stressed that the uniform handbook and behavior matrix should improve data going forward.
The district said the new Rights & Responsibilities handbook expands from about 34 pages to 75 and includes definitions, reporting contacts and appeals processes. Schultz Bartlett said the handbook went into effect in September and principals trained students on its contents.
The board did not take formal action on the HIB items at the meeting; the presentation served as an update on implementation activities and next steps, including continued training and data analysis.
