Elk Grove Unified School District announces new policy to address bullying

In the wake of a bullying incident last week at Florin high school that involved a student with disabilities, the EGUSD has announced new steps they are taking to deal with the issue in schools. In an email sent out last night to local media, Xanthi Pinkerton, Director of Communications with the district, announced the policy changes

With regard to concerns of bullying and how we can help students report when they experience being bullied or harassed, our District will be implementing a new online incident reporting system that students can utilize to report incidents. They will also have the option of reporting anonymously. Reports will be sent to a dedicated administrative team trained to manage the reports.

Bullying is an area we have been focused on by implementing positive behavior interventions and supports, working with students to practice STOP, WALK and TALK: http://blogs.egusd.net/pbis/ bully-prevention-in-pbis/

and new this year, we will be launching the online anonymous incident reporting system that all students in the district can use to report incidents of bullying or harassment. The implementation of this system was in response parents and students requesting a more private and/or anonymous method of reporting incidents. This new system is scheduled to roll out within the next few months.

At last night’s School Board meeting, several parents spoke out against bullying and urged the board to do more. One issue that parents have raised is that kids that are being bullied are being suspended for defending themselves against bullies. Parents would like that policy changed.

Letter sent out by Florin Principal Denise Escobar regarding last week’s incident.