District 21 outlines bullying-prevention push: brochures, Lets Talk reports and BASEEd modules

District 21 staff on Oct. 16 outlined a multi-pronged effort to clarify, detect and respond to bullying, including a parent/student trifold brochure, posters, reporting via the Lets Talk platform and targeted online modules assigned to students involved in incidents.

Sherry Masa, director of student services, told the board the district distributed a translated trifold to all buildings and has posted posters that point to Lets Talk. She reported 14 bullying-specific submissions have come through Lets Talk so far this year; many came from bystanders and were addressed by school teams the next day. Masa said the district is preparing family notifications to the state representative about Holmes Middle Schools arts grant and is continuing community outreach for new programs.

Masa described a three-part behavioral response matrix: (1) universal (teaching and posters and caring circles), (2) targeted supports (social workers, restorative practices and counseling), and (3) focused interventions when incidents meet the districts bullying definition. She cited the districts response policy identified in materials as "board policy 7 1 80" for formal investigations.

For middle schools the district began Oct. 1 piloting BASEEd, an online series of student modules for cyberbullying, decision making and social skills; Masa said BASEEd contains more than 45 modules and is translated in 74 languages. Early reaction in the three middle schools was "tremendous," she said, and the district will evaluate whether to extend modules to elementary grades. Masa said staff also updated discipline forms and checklists and are building a districtwide behavior committee to create consistent tiered responses.

In questions, board members asked about the extent of cyberbullying work, the distribution of Let's Talk submissions (Masa reported more elementary than middle-school submissions so far: 8 elementary, 6 middle), and student awareness. Student representatives and board members suggested more student-facing materials and distribution in homerooms or hallway "take" locations to raise awareness. Dr. Connolly confirmed the platform vendor recently rebranded Lets Talk to "Onflow" and the district will transition naming when possible.

Masa emphasized the district responds to rude or mean behavior as well as bullying and said restorative justice staff (Meagan Navarro) are deployed to elementary buildings for caring circles and mediation.