Parent urges stricter enforcement of bullying rules after recent childdeath
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Summary
At a Jefferson County school-board work session, parent Victoria Schubert urged the board to enforce state bullying laws and improve documentation and parent notification after the recent death of a child she said had been dealing with bullying; district staff described existing procedures and said 145 investigations have been started this school year.
Victoria Schubert, a parent of two in Jefferson County, told the Jefferson County School Board during the public-input portion that many parents believe the district is not consistently documenting or investigating bullying and urged the board to "take the law seriously and the policy seriously" after the community mourned "the loss of a little boy that has been dealing with bullying in and out of school." She said parents report incidents "slipping through the cracks" and called for a genuine zero-tolerance approach under state law.
District director (speaker S3) responded that the board’s bullying policy and related investigative paperwork are on the board table and in use. "There’s 145 bullying investigations that have been started this school year alone," the director said, adding that some incidents are determined to be bullying and others are not, but that every report generates documentation and follow-up. He said the district's goal is to notify parents and work collaboratively with families: principals and counselors make phone calls and provide information to affected families.
Board members pressed staff on two lines of concern raised by Schubert and others: how the district defines and applies "zero tolerance" and whether there is adequate follow-up to keep parents informed. The director explained that under state statute, the district only applies “zero tolerance” in four categories: drugs, assault, weapons and threats of mass violence, and that disciplinary responses depend on the age of the student and the specifics of each incident. He noted protections for students with IEPs or Section 504 plans that can affect suspension procedures and the need for a manifestation-determination meeting before extended removals.
Board members and staff also discussed the boundary between school-level bullying investigations and law-enforcement threat assessments. The director said law enforcement typically becomes involved for threat assessments, while bullying investigations are handled by school teams composed of administrators, teachers and counselors. He reiterated that the district’s stated intent is to inform parents whenever investigations occur and to provide counselors and other supports to affected students.
The board took no formal action at the meeting. Members said they will continue work on policy review at the next policy meeting scheduled before the May work session and invited staff to research additional prevention programs and possible student-involvement strategies.
The board’s procedural next steps: the policy meeting is scheduled for the work session in May and the next business session is set for April 2, with a special-call budget meeting on April 9.
