District outlines '1 Clay Culture' anti‑bullying program, board presses for a simpler parent‑facing code of conduct

District staff briefed the board on bullying definitions, reporting and a new in‑house program called '1 Clay Culture' at the Jan. 27 workshop, and the board discussed making the code of conduct more accessible to parents and students.

Kevin Stapie of the Office of Student Engagement reviewed the three statutory elements required for an incident to be coded as bullying under Florida rules: repetition, intent to harm and an imbalance of power. He emphasized that not every rude or mean incident meets the statutory threshold for bullying, but that schools still address rude or mean conduct through discipline and teaching interventions.

Stapie and school counselors described a menu of interventions schools use depending on severity: classroom teaching, check‑in/check‑out, peer mediation, no‑contact contracts, behavioral interventions, and formal discipline where warranted. They noted that state reporting rules require coding the highest‑level offense when an incident escalates (for example, an assault that began as bullying will be coded as an assault for state reporting) and that related or secondary codes can still be captured in local records.

Staff introduced 1 Clay Culture, a district‑authored set of developmentally appropriate lessons and supports created by district counselors that includes first‑10‑day lessons, ongoing refreshers, and tracking tools. They said the material is delivered in‑house (no external vendor cost) and tied to counselor and mental‑health allocations for reproduction of materials.

Board members and staff focused on accessibility and communication: several trustees urged a concise, parent‑friendly summary or a school‑level 'student bill of rights' and recommended putting clear reporting links and hotline information where parents will easily find them. Staff said the district maintains a bullying hotline and a bullying report page on 1clay.net and will continue to refine outreach and materials.

District staff noted hotline volumes and reporting metrics: the bullying hotline recorded 19 reports in the first semester of the current year, and overall hotline numbers have trended downward in recent years; staff also cautioned that many incidents go unreported and that state data capture rules shape published statistics.

The board did not take formal action during the workshop but instructed staff to continue refining parent‑facing materials, code‑of‑conduct language and training.