One word proved to be a sticky point for the Emporia board of education as it reviewed the district’s policy on bullying at its meeting Wednesday night in the Mary Herbert Education Center.
The current policy, which had been reviewed last year by the Kansas Association of School Boards, contains the word “shall” in reference to consequences set by the district for students who bully others.
KASB maintained its original recommendation to use the word “may” instead of “shall,” Associate Superintendent of Personnel M. Theresa Davidson wrote in a memo to the board. “(H)owever, they contend that our policy as written will still provide for a continuum of severity with respect to consequences given the word ‘shall.’”
“I believe we should change the word to ‘shall’ because I believe there is something to be said about the impact of the word and the deterrent effect of the word,” board vice president Glen Strickland said. “ ‘May’ — well, if you told me that when I was in school, ‘Well, I’ll be able to talk my way out of that.’”
Strickland said “shall” would simplify administrators’ jobs by setting down disciplinary actions that applied to all students.
Board members Mike Helbert and Mike Crouch strongly favored “may.”
“I think it’s important to have discretion involved there, and I just don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to any of this stuff,” Helbert said.
Strickland said that public perception of equal treatment could be enhanced by using “shall.”
“How the public perceives the fact that there may be some students because of parents ... will not face any type of punishment where others would have,” Strickland said. He added that may not be a legitimate claim, but it could be a perception.
“I don’t know if that has any bearing on this,” Crouch said. “The public is not privy to that information (on discipline).”
Board president Angie Schreiber said that policies already exist that demand certain disciplines, such as the policy on fighting in schools. Both or all combatants are suspended in those cases.
“That’s the rule, and that’s just the way it is. And it doesn’t matter what the situation is,” Schreiber said. “In other cases, the principal’s right to make a decision is already gone because those rules are already set, and those rules have been set by policy. ... If you’re going to bully, you will face consequences. ...
“Bullying is wrong, no matter what the situation is,” she said. “It is a fact, from the bullying seminar, that a lot of adults don’t know what bullying is.”
Member Mary Helmer suggested polling the administrators who deal with the policy.
“I feel comfortable that our principals are dealing with it very effectively,” Davidson said.
Crouch said he wanted to continue to monitor the bullying situation, and Helbert agreed.
“We’re not dealing with 21-year-olds,” Helbert said. “... I don’t want to tie (principals’) hands and say, ‘This is the way it’s going to be 100 percent of the time.’ ... All I’m saying is that we have to give the benefit of the doubt to the trained people who are running our schools.”
Schreiber made a motion to bring the issue back to the agenda in April, after getting feedback from principals.
The board voted to bring out two consent agenda items about transportation requests to be considered separately, after Helbert said he had questions about them.
Helbert wanted more information about how expenses were figured to determine what the district would charge the different groups that rent school buses and drivers from the district. Transportation requests from Sacred Heart School and the Leadership Emporia Class 2008 were on the Wednesday night agenda.
Superintendent John Heim said the charges take fuel and the driver into consideration.
“The two things it doesn’t take into account is depreciation on the bus and liability insurance on the bus,” Heim said.
Schreiber said that the district has a transportation costs chart from its budget that could be scrutinized at a future meeting because the materials were not on-site Wednesday.
“We do have a significant investment in equipment that we then become a community resource for,” Helbert said. “We ought to make sure we’re recapturing our real costs, not just gas and oil.”
Community Relations Director Nancy Horst presented a policy charge on advertising for the board to review. The current policy requires board approval; the suggested policy would have the superintendent or designee in charge of approvals, based on guidelines developed by the superintendent.
Heim said that the need for change had arisen through the Emporia High School athletic director, whose budget can be affected by advertising or promotions.
The board tabled an agenda item to discuss the GED Plus diploma. The board had asked the instructional council to look at the GED Plus diploma again. The council tabled the item. It has been on the agenda four times without action.
The board earlier had sent the proposal back to the instructional council for additional consideration. The council tabled the item during its meeting last week.
Three board members received “Boardsmanship Academy Awards” from the Kansas Association of School Boards.
The awards are given to board members who complete specified training seminars, according to information from KASB President Barbara Bunding.
Mary Helmer, Grant Riles and Angie Schreiber received Honor Roll Level I certificates for earning 50 to 100 credit points.
On other agenda items, the board:
F Heard a curriculum report, “Phonics Interventions Using Fluency Data,” by Wendy Moore, principal of Village School. Moore presented details on the processes and successes of using testing and small groups to identify weaknesses and strengths in students’ reading and comprehension. Students who had improved in their abilities during the past school year are showing they have maintained that improvement during the current year.
F Heard a presentation from Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Jeanine McKenna on the chamber’s Building Futures campaign.ory>