School Administrators Debate Bullying Legislation

The Suffolk County Legislature discussed a proposed bill at its meeting Tuesday that would penalize high school principals with a $1,000 fine for failure to discipline a student or students who have engaged in behavior consistent with the legislature's definition of bullying. However, some school administrators who appeared before the legislature took exception to the proposed law since they felt it assumes schools aren't already taking action against bullying behavior. 

The bill, being proposed by Suffolk Legislator Jon Cooper and introduced by Cooper, Legislator Tom Barraga of West Islip and Legislator Kate Browning, holds school principals responsible if it is determined that a student was bullied and the school administration did not keep accurate records of incidents reported or discipline the student or students responsible for the bullying.

However, some administrators believe that preventing bullying is already a major focus of educators and point to state legislation that requires school districts to have safety plans in place.

Susan Haske, the principal of a middle school in the Bayport-Blue Point School District, told the legislature that there are problems will the bill. She raised the issue of whether school personnel can intervene in matters involving bullying outside of school. 

Copiague High School Principal Albert Voomeveld urged the legislature to consider gathering more information in order to develop meaningful programs.

Some administrators took exception to a part of the "Legislative Intent" section of the proposed bill that states, "Too often, teachers and school administrators fail to adequately act..."

Thomas O'Brien, principal of a high school in the Brentwood School District, told the legislators who support the bill that they aren't recognizing the positive actions schools have taken to combat bullying. O'Brien also stated that bullying is exacerbated by technology. 

With the popularity of the Internet, students find that they can be bullied on social media sites such as Facebook. Alexis Pilkington, a West Islip High School student who was reportedly cyberbullied on the website Formspring, was one of the cases that called attention to the problem of cyberbulling, although Pilkington's parents reportedly maintained that the comments on the Internet did not lead to their daughter's suicide.

The West Islip School District has an Anti-Bullying Committee, chaired by Udall Road Middle School Principal Dan Marquardt.

Still, lawmakers believe that the problem of bullying is clearly one that has to be addressed. "I don't think we have a consistent plan to deal with it," said Legislator Jack Eddington, a former social worker. 

There was also a question raised as to whether the Suffolk County Legislature should try to institute a form of regulation when it comes to school districts, which are regulated by the New York State Education Department.

One idea that was mentioned was forming a task force of interested parties to examine the issue of bullying more closely.

The legislature will continue the hearing at its June 22 general meeting in the Evans K. Griffing Building, 300 Center Drive in Riverhead.