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District outlines "1 Clay Culture" anti-bullying lessons, explains reporting and hotline
Summary
The district presented its bullying definition and response process, reported about 30 bullying referrals in 2023-24 and 19 hotline reports this semester, and described a new in-house "1 Clay Culture" curriculum and reporting tools for parents and schools.
Kevin Stapie of the Office of Student Engagement reviewed the state statutory definition of bullying at the Jan. 27 board workshop and described how Clay County Schools is implementing prevention and reporting measures.
Stapie said the state definition requires three elements to code an incident as bullying: repetition, intent and a power imbalance. He told the board that Clay County had about 30 bullying referrals in 2023—24 and noted the district's bullying hotline recorded 19 calls in the first semester of the current year; he added that some incidents meet a higher disciplinary code (for example, battery) and therefore may appear in state data under another code even when bullying was part of the sequence.
Stapie and school counselors introduced "1 Clay Culture," a district-authored set of developmentally appropriate lessons and refreshers (first-10-day lessons plus follow-ups) intended to align counselors, teachers and administrators on prevention, reporting and intervention. He outlined the menu of interventions used at schools — from parent contact and check-in/check-out systems to no-contact agreements, peer mediation and counseling — and emphasized that administrators are trained to investigate and to follow state reporting rules.
On reporting, staff recommended parents contact school administrators first for the fastest response; a district hotline and an online reporting form also exist. Stapie asked parents not to use Fortify Florida for general bullying reports (Fortify routes security incidents to law enforcement and the sheriff's office), and he pointed families to the district's bullying page (1play.net) and the district's process for hotline support and school follow-up.
What happens next: Staff will continue implementing the 1 Clay Culture lessons, track interventions and provide training and resources to principals and teachers; program materials are owned by the district and distributed without external contract costs.
