Superintendent Severs presents discipline data, says board will publish both narrow bullying counts and broader 'abuse of others' reports

Superintendent Isaac Severs presented the district’s semiannual student-discipline data to the Lebanon City School Board on March 23, emphasizing that state law defines bullying narrowly and that the district will report both the state-verified bullying counts and broader “abuse of others” reports to increase transparency.

Severs told the board that “the state definition of bullying is very specific and it's something that is directed towards another student and the key there is more than once,” explaining why some reported incidents do not meet the state standard for verified bullying even though staff and families commonly call them “bullying.” He said the district already records a larger set of referrals in its office records and plans to include both data sets in public reporting so the community can see how the administration responds.

The distinction matters for public perception and for state reporting. Under Ohio law and the board’s policy, the district must publish confirmed acts that meet the statutory definition. Severs said the district will continue to file the state-required verified totals while also making available the broader counts that staff enter under “abuse of others,” a category the district uses for behavior that, if repeated, would be bullying.

Severs and board members discussed the numbers and how they appear in the packet. “There were 81 reported incidences of behaviors that if repeated were bullying,” Severs said in explaining one slide that tracked referrals; he added that the narrower state count is typically lower because the law requires repeated, severe, pervasive conduct to qualify as bullying.

Board members pressed for clarity about what the public will see online. Severs said his plan is to present both slides — the state-verified totals and the broader referrals — with messaging to explain how the two relate. He described typical outcomes after an office referral, including disciplinary steps ranging from in-school interventions to, when warranted, suspension.

Miss Irvin and other board members asked whether publishing the broader numbers might be misread by the public; the superintendent and treasurer said they will include explanatory text and the administrators’ process so readers understand what each column represents. Severs also said the district’s reporting to the state goes through EMIS and that the district continues to address incidents involving bias and protected-class harassment through its established processes.

The presentation did not include a board vote. Severs said he will present the revised public packet that shows both categories in the district’s online report in the near term, and the board indicated support for that approach.