Bullying Not On Agenda For Polk County School Board Meeting

LAKELAND, FL — The Polk County School Board may discuss bullying at its Tuesday work session and meeting but bullying is not an official agenda item, according to district officials.

"There are some news outlets reporting this morning that the Polk County School Board will be specifically discussing bullying as an agenda item during a meeting today," district officials said in a statement released Tuesday morning.

"Please be advised that the topic of bullying is not an official agenda item at either today’s work session (12:30 p.m.) or tonight’s regular board meeting (5 p.m)," the statement explained.

A story about bullying at Medulla Elementary that was posted on the Fox 13 website said parents "who would like to discuss solutions were invited to bring them to a work session on May 14."

District spokesman Jason Geary said there is a work session agenda item on the agenda titled “School Discipline - Comprehensive Student Behavior Response Plan.”

But, unlike regular board meetings, there is no public comment section planned for the work session.

"Obviously, school board members can comment about whatever topic they wish during their meetings," he told Patch. "If they wish to address bullying, they can do so."

He said the board schedules roundtable discussions to address specific topics like bullying from time to time, but such a discussion is not planned for Tuesday.

"It’s my understanding that this will cover a variety of discipline matters and topics, and not just bullying," he said of the work session agenda item.

Official agenda items for the meetings are posted here.