BOE Hears of Pervasive Bullying

HARRISON – The Informational/Discussion portion of the Oct. 11 Harrison Community Schools Board of Education meeting began with the lengthy Weinlander Fitzhugh audit report for 2020-2021. The report showed the district in good stead with the exception of spenddown of governmental funding. Schools are not allowed to exceed specified fund balance limits (i.e., nutrition funds), but auditor Shelly Browning said that currently this is the situation in schools across the state, and that it is related to the previous year’s lack of in-person classes. When asked by board vice president Kendra Durga whether the lack of spenddown would jeopardize the district’s eligibility for future funding, Browning said that there are waivers available, but the widespread nature of the problem makes it seem unlikely to pose any imminent threat to funding eligibility.

Next up was the first reading of the Thrun board policies (Thrun Law Firm in East Lansing), which will be replacing the NEOLA (North East Ohio Learning Association) policies. After a second reading and board approval, the Thrun policies will be uploaded to the school website. It is expected that the new policies will be more streamlined and functionally less cumbersome, as they are presented in a better organized and more user-friendly format.

The third item addressed was a COVID-19 protocol update. Superintendent Rick Foote explained the multi-phase approach which the district is going to use, an approach he said is being coordinated through the Central Michigan District Health Department. After explaining the new approach, Foote also noted that while masking is not required, it is an important part of the effort to stop viral spread and emphasized that masking is very much being encouraged.

In Public Participation, two parents in attendance spoke of their concerns about bullying in the schools. One parent spoke of her child leaving a sports team because of bullying, not only from fellow students, but from a teammate’s parent. Discussion of the issue included the inequity of bullies not being called to account, rather than the bullied children having to be remove from the situation/team.

The school, of course, must seek to squelch a potentially harmful situation as quickly as possible. The procedural steps necessary to track and prove a pattern of behavior takes time, and it falls to the victims to report the incidents – however many times they happen – in order to establish that pattern. Joe Ashcroft, high school principal, noted that October is Kindness Month and spoke of it as an opportunity to encourage better student behavior. It was also mentioned that it is Bullying Awareness Month, as well.

With the bullying topic well under discussion, BOE Trustee Betsy Ulicki read aloud her own letter to the board informing of her decision to remove her daughter from the Harrison Community Schools District. She enumerated the abuses her child had suffered, some directly related to a necessary medical device which became a point of negative and unnecessary remarks. Ulicki said she had run for office with the intent of helping the schools to improve what she called a pervasive culture of negativity, but that she had not seen any action to truly stem that tide.

The room was then filled with comments regarding the procedural requirements to pursue actions to stop a bullying student, and even more remarks about the lack of concern students have for possible consequences for their actions. That was tied to a lack of parent responsibility. Foote said the lack of communication from home to office is one of the worst thing the school deals with every day. He expressed his sincere wish that many things in society could be changed, and said the problems being experienced in schools are a direct reflection of what is happening across the country.

The discussion ended on a somewhat hopeful note, referring to the upcoming education conference to be attended by Joe Ashcroft and Kelly Lipovsky in Florida. It is expected that they will learn more about resolving the bullying problem and bring their knowledge back to share with other HCS personnel.