Under New Law, All Incidents of Bullying Must Be Reported

Under the state’s new Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) law, “anything investigated as HIB must be reported to the board,” Superintendent of Schools Annette Giaquinto explained to the Galloway Township Board of Education at its meeting Monday night, Sept. 26.

This includes any incident reported by a third party in which the alleged victim denies any bullying was taking place.

“If any child comes to a teacher or a member of the faculty and says they saw another child being bullied, and then the victim is asked and says, ‘No, that’s just the way we play around, that’s no big deal,’ because it was reported, that has to be reported to the board,” Giaquinto said.

Giaquinto and other members of the school district that the new guidelines fall in line with what the district already does to combat bullying, but the method for reporting incidents differs.

She explained that process in detail Monday night.

“If any staff member is aware of bullying that takes place, they need to report it to the principal of their school in writing,” Giaquinto said.

She added that all parental complaints of bullying must also be documented.

“A summary form of whether or not it was HIB, along with the consequences must then be reviewed by the principal, who can modify it,” Giaquinto said.

Giaquinto would then review it and modify as needed, and then a report is created for the board to review. The first report was presented to the board Monday night, and will become a monthly item at Board of Education meetings.

Once the board modifies the report and passes a resolution concerning it, Giaquinto then has five days to prepare letters to be sent to the parents of all the children involved in the incident, at which time parents can either agree or disagree with the report.

Therefore, parents of those victims who say they weren’t bullied can determine if the victim is telling the truth, is trying to protect another student or is too scared to tell the truth.

“That’s why everything needs to be reported,” Giaquinto said.

All children involved in the incident remain anonymous in letters sent home to parents.

The discipline code is progressive, Giaquinto said. Repeat offenders face greater consequences, and in-person meetings are scheduled with parents for more serious incidents.

Each school in the district has its own way of dealing with bullying, including Roland Rogers, which has an in the main hall of the school. Each student at the school signs a pledge to be “bully free,” and all pledges are posted on this wall.