Public Hearing for New Bullying Policy Tonight

Members of the Trenton Board of Education will kick off Monday's regularly scheduled meeting with a public hearing regarding a new policy prohibiting bullying.

The meeting and public hearing begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Board of Education building on the campus of Trenton High School.

District administrators are planning on introducing a new policy that is much more elaborate and specific, to protect students from bullying.

The new policy goes beyond the current bullying policy by including:

• A statement prohibiting bullying.
• A statement prohibiting retaliation or false accusation.
• A provision indicating that all pupils are protected.
• School officials responsible for ensuring the policy is implemented. 
• A statement describing how the policy is to be publicized.
• Procedure for notifying the parents of the bully and the bullied.
• Procedure for reporting an act of bullying.
• Procedure for prompt investigation of a report of bullying.
• Procedure for each public school to document each reported incident.

The new policy also states some optional components:

• Provision to form anti-bullying task forces.
• Requirement for annual training for administrators.
• Requirement for educational programs for students and parents.

The current policy touches on a few of these items, but does not go into great detail as to how to handle bullying after it is discovered among students.

The district must adopt and implement a policy prohibiting bullying by June 6.