Student services committee previews bullying‑prevention outreach and urges use of district reporting channels

Pennridge’s Student Services Committee discussed an upcoming bullying‑prevention presentation and emphasized the importance of reporting incidents through the district’s official channels to give school staff the ability to intervene.

Administrators said the planned presentation — to be led by Dan Thomas and other student‑services staff — will define bullying types, summarize research about prevalence and impacts, outline school response protocols and suggest strategies parents can use to support prevention at home. The presentation will also highlight the district’s online bullying reporting form, available on each school’s webpage, and committee members said the session will be recorded for later viewing.

Committee members and staff urged families to report concerns directly to the school rather than relying on social media or informal parent‑to‑parent networks, which administrators said can undermine investigation and remediation. One committee speaker noted that when allegations are reported only on social platforms the district cannot act — and "it only gets worse when you don't actually report it, because we can't take action and support kids," the speaker said.

The committee discussed future presentations to spotlight school counselors, social workers and special‑education staff, with administrators planning to invite school counselors and social workers to describe their caseloads, interventions and resource needs. The goal is to inform the board and public about student‑services operations and to surface opportunities where board support could strengthen services.

Ending: The committee scheduled follow‑up meetings and presentation dates; administrators urged broad distribution of the bullying‑prevention materials and the district’s complaint/reporting contact information so incidents can be addressed through school channels.