Waltham Beefs Up Anti-Bullying Efforts

Waltham Public Schools now have one more tool to deal with the issue of bullying.

While some details may change, plans to use the new anti-bullying plan it submitted to the state Department of Secondary and Elementary Education on Dec. 17 two weeks before the deadline, according to spokesman JC Considine.

The district submitted the document in accordance with the state’s new anti-bullying law, which prohibits bullying in public and private schools and requires districts to formulate anti-bullying plans. Legislators passed the law last year in the wake of several tragic deaths connected to bullying.

Waltham’s plan, however, may not yet be final. The DESE is currently reviewing all submitted plans to make sure they comply with all of the required elements specified in the law, according to Considine.

“At this point, we have had an initial review of the plans,” he said of all of the plans and not Waltham’s specifically. “We’re going to follow that up with a second review now.”

If any district’s plans are deemed insufficient, the DESE will request clarification and additional materials from any district, Considine said. The reviews will be completed by the end of February, he said.

Waltham’s initial plan, however, offers a look at the district’s approach to prevent bullying. Under the plan, educators would be required to report acts of bullying, or acts of retaliation for bullying. Students and parents, are “expected” to report such behavior, but not required to do so, according to the plan.  Anonymous complaints will not be investigated, Carr-Reardon said.

Once the district receives a report of bullying, a “safety plan,” would be devised to assure the safety of anybody involved, according to the plan.

Bullying, under the plan, is defined as repeatedly harming another individual, physically or emotionally, or creating an uncomfortable learning environment. Cyberbullying is defined as using technology or electronic devices to cause similar harm to another student.

The plan also covers alleged bullying outside of school and during off-school hours, including school-sponsored activities.

“It’s not longer, ‘if it happens on the playground at 6 o-clock in the evening, it no longer effects us,’” Carr-Reardon said.

When bullying is reported, the district would investigate the matter by speaking with those involved and complete a bullying reporting form, as required under the law, according to Carr-Reardon. Once the investigation is complete, Carr-Reardon said administrators would determine if the behavior was indeed bullying and meet with the students and their parents. If appropriate, Carr-Reardon said the district would contact law enforcement or issue punishments to students.  The students’ names would be kept confidential, she said.

To implement the plan, teachers and other staff members have already received training on the issue as required by law, according to Carr-Reardon.

Several things will determine the effectiveness of the plan, according to Carr-Reardon. The key to stopping or preventing bullying is following the training and remaining alert to warning signs. People are the other deciding factor, Carr-Reardon said.

 “It will be as effective as people remain committed to the process. Right now, [the bullying issue has] dropped a little bit of off peoples’ radar screen,” she said.

The process to create the plan started last September, according to Carr-Reardon, when an anti-bullying task force was created. The group, which included, school administrators, teachers, counselors, residents and parents among others, met several times before formulating submitting the document to the DESE.

The death of Phoebe Prince, a South Hadley High School freshman, pushed lawmakers to take up the issue. Prince hanged herself a little more than a year ago after several classmates allegedly bullied her for months.