The Hillsborough County School District has seen a flood of information concerning anti-bullying efforts this fall, but so far officials aren’t sure if the data is user-friendly.
According to the district’s director of administration Judith Rainone, more than a third of the district’s schools haven’t responded to a survey on which programs they are using to combat bulling.
“We try to drill into them that it’s not optional, it’s the law,” Rainone said, referring to training sessions that were made available for principals over the summer. “We have to make sure that everyone is in compliance with the new state statute.”
The policy was modeled after the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, in honor of a Cape Coral student who committed suicide in 2005 after being bullied. Equality Florida lobbied Tallahassee heavily over the past four years to see the anti-bullying measure passed on a statewide level.
While on the surface the idea of stopping bullying sounds good, tracking it has proven to be trickier.
Of the 58 online reports filed across the 190,000-student district since August, just six were deemed actual school bullying cases. At least three were trumped up and never happened. The remainder either didn’t fit the state’s definition of bullying, or occurred off campus, Rainone said.
“If a kid is hit at the bus stop, it’s not bullying,” Rainone said. “If the kid hits my kid again the next day, then it’s a bullying issue.”
Officials at the school have said at several meetings that they are pleased with progress the district has made since the spring, when four Walker Middle School teens were arrested on suspicion of raping a classmate with a broom and hockey stick. All four of those boys have pleaded not guilty to adult charges of sexual assault. The victim, who has not been identified, told authorities that the four teens attacked him multiple times over a two-month period.
While the district adjusts to the new law concerning bullying, Rainone said she has one major concern.
“Do kids feel safe in school?” she asked. “From my point of view, that’s what I want to know.”
