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Ocean Township reports fewer confirmed HIB incidents, declines in violence and substance incidents
Summary
At its July meeting the district presented the student safety report for Jan.–June 2025 showing fewer confirmed harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) cases and declines in several incident categories compared with the previous year.
Missus Reuben, a district administrator, presented the Township of Ocean School Districtstudent safety report for the period Jan. to June and the full-year totals at the board meeting.
The report showed 12 confirmed HIB incidents in the second half of the 2024-25 school year, down from 19 confirmed HIBs in the same period the prior school year. The district opened 19 HIB investigations in Jan.–June 2025 and confirmed 12; by comparison, it opened 32 investigations Jan.–June 2024 and confirmed 19.
The rest of the district's required safety categories also showed year-over-year declines. The district reported 21 instances of violence in the full 2024-25 school year, down from 30 the prior year. Vandalism remained unchanged at five incidents. Weapons incidents fell from two to zero. Substance incidents (use, possession, sale or distribution) decreased from 18 to 8. Full-year confirmed HIBs moved from 30 to 19.
Reuben said the data are reported to the board and the state under the public school safety law and board policy 5512. She told the board the district provides the student safety report twice a year, in January and July, and that some events can have multiple reported natures or modes.
Board member Missus Gilman asked whether the downward trends could be attributed to training or programs. Reuben said the districtattributes the improvement to "our approach to a positive school culture with high expectation for student decorum and students being held accountable for behaving a certain way and being part of the solution of creating positive, enthusiastic, spirited schools." She added that the trend was evident in graduation speeches.
A member of the public, Alex Hayes, thanked the board for the HIB and violence update during public comment.
The report and the district's other student-safety statistics are linked in the board packet; Reuben noted that not all counts add up directly because a single event can include multiple natures and modes, per the reporting rules.
The district also reported summer program attendance figures during the same meeting: Wayside ElementaryExtended School Year program, 105 students; OTHS (high school) five programs totaling 91 students; TOIS two programs with 65 students; and an elementary districtwide program at Wanamassa School with 40 students.
No formal board action was required on the safety report; it was provided for information and state reporting.
