EAST WINDSOR: Bolandi says state mandate waters down anti-bullying efforts

By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
   HIGHTSTOWN — The East Windsor Regional school board recently approved revisions to the state-mandated policy on harassment and bullying that now requires the district to follow specific guidelines for disciplining bullies.
   The district previously enforced a no-tolerance policy, suspending students who commit such acts, Superintendent Ron Bolandi said.
   And the state-mandated revisions will put the district’s policy in jeopardy, he said, since now the state will require several steps before a student is suspended and compels the district to consider mitigating factors such as age, grade level and degree of harm the victim perceives.
   ”This is contrary to what I believe, that bullying and harassment should not be tolerated, period,” Mr. Bolandi said Wednesday.
   The policy revisions, approved unanimously by the board Dec. 18, list a number of consequences before suspension and ultimately expulsion for repeat offenders. Those include a simple admonishment, temporary removal from the classroom, detention, and in-school suspension. It also recommends other out-of-classroom consequences including parent conferences, therapy, and law enforcement involvement for severe cases.
   School officials may jump to the sterner consequences if they deem the incident serious enough, Mr. Bolandi said.
   They also must consider factors such as the relationship between two students, and the degree of harm the victim perceives, and the developmental maturity of the perpetrator before doling out punishment.
   Mr. Bolandi said he thinks the new measures take more care to accommodate the bullies than it does the victims.
   ”It’s almost like the Department of Education has less respect for the victim than for the perpetrator,” he said. “A lot of times kids can be very affected by bullying, and it can ruin their day, week, or year.”
   ”I want kids to know that bullying won’t be tolerated,” he added. “We shouldn’t have to do a lengthy investigation to give out a slap on the wrist, but we’ll work with it and figure out how to implement it in January.”
   The district had little choice but to pass the policy revisions, as failure to do so would have resulted in the schools not passing their state evaluations later in 2009, Mr. Bolandi said.
   The superintendent also had issues with parts of the policy when the district was first mandated to adopt it last year. At that time, Mr. Bolandi said he didn’t like the district being compelled to punish students for any bullying and harassment that takes place by electronic means, whether or not it originates from a district-owned computer or happens during school hours.
   Mr. Bolandi reiterated his concern Wednesday.
   ”I don’t have any legal recourse to say to a parent, ‘show me your kid’s computer,’” he said. “How can I discipline a kid if I can’t prove it?”