Clay County board schedules February workshop to tackle bullying policy

The Clay County School Board agreed at a December workshop to schedule a focused workshop in February to review and revise the district's bullying policy.

"So let's start with bullying first and and do bullying in February," said Speaker 4, proposing a targeted session to begin the board's larger review of the student code of conduct. Board members who spoke during the discussion supported that sequencing, calling the bullying conversation "a deep discussion" that will inform subsequent code changes.

Board members emphasized that the workshop should include legal counsel and district climate-and-culture staff because many bullying procedures are governed by state law. Speaker 1 asked that legal and the climate-and-culture department be prepared with recommendations for the session, noting legal limits and statutory requirements that the board will need to consider.

The February workshop will be used to develop concrete procedures and parent-facing communications; board members discussed producing a concise, age-appropriate one-page code parents can acknowledge at the start of the year. No formal vote was recorded during the workshop; the decision to schedule the workshop was reached by consensus and will be placed on a future meeting agenda for formalization.

Next steps: district staff and legal counsel will be asked to prepare materials and recommendations for the scheduled February workshop, and the board will confirm the workshop timing and agenda in an upcoming meeting.