Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Board of Education for Buffalo Public Schools will soon be analyzing data from each school in their district to assure that they are adhering to state regulations that address handling and reporting bullying.
In the final board meeting before the start of the academic year, the Buffalo School Board passed a resolution that requests school administrators give information to the board that is required to be reported by New York State, through the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA or Dignity Act) by October.
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"The DASA, which was passed in 2012 and updated in 2013, requires districts to report incidents of harassment, bullying and discrimination, provide training to staff on these incidents, provide instruction to students to prevent these types of incidents, and identify Dignity Act coordinators for each school, which are made available to students, staff, and family," explained Larry Scott, Buffalo School Board Member At Large.
Scott says there were a few cases of bullying and harassment that were brought to the attention of him and his fellow school board members that were significant. They heard families and teachers speak on bullying at a board meeting on June 21.
Last school year on May 17, a 12-year-old boy died by suicide after what The Buffalo News reported to be "relentless bullying by a fellow sixth-grader at Martin Luther King Jr. School 48."
"These incidents, along with some guidance that was issued by the New York State Attorney General, Tish James and the Commissioner of Education, Betty Rosa, that was recently submitted to districts prompted me to elevate this conversation, this priority on a board level, district level, to ensure that we have clear reporting procedures on the school level and at the district level, and that we're looking at these reports, so if there is something that slips through the cracks, somebody is able to see this, we act on it," says Scott.
According to Scott, this resolution passed by the school board will:
- Request the district clarify the process for training all of the staff on DASA
- Request the reporting and resolution process of any incidents of harassment or bullying that fall under DASA, and how they're handled within a school and amongst district departments and staff
- Request reports on the rate of harassment and bullying incidents per school and district wide over the past five years
- Identify the Dignity Act coordinator for each school and the staff member on the district level that is responsible for overseeing DASA for all students
Scott prefers the Dignity Act coordinator to be a mental health professional, and not fall on a principal or administrator.
"As a personal example, my boys are in two different Buffalo Public Schools. Without digging for the information, I don't know offhand who the Dignity Act coordinator is for each of those schools that my children are in. My children don't know them either. So I think that's where we certainly need to improve, making it clear that we're identifying one person to assume that role and making it known to staff, students and parents."
Scott adds, "I think discussing this, looking into the data, maybe tweaking some of our procedures and making people more aware of what the procedures are and the responsibility to report, I will then be much more confident that we are handling incidents of bullying, harassment or discrimination in an effective manner."