Districts cheer funding mandate for anti-bullying law

By Birgitta Wolfe and Charles Kim, The Packet Group
   Local school superintendents didn’t need a state panel to tell them legislative mandates for district programs are not being funded.
   Under a 1995 constitutional amendment new legislation must come with funds to implement it and the Council on Local Mandates was created to enforce that requirement.
   At issue is the council’s Jan. 27 ruling that the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is unconstitutional because the state did not provide funds to cover the training, counseling, and reporting called for in the bill.
   The council’s decision will invalidate the law in 60 days if the Legislature cannot remedy the law’s shortcomings.
   ”I’m overjoyed the council pressed the issue,” said Springfield Superintendent Joseph Miller, “but I don’t think the state has paid for one cent of any of its mandates.”
   Northern Burlington County Regional Superintendent James Sarruda agreed.
   ”It’s not a significant decision. Every (state) mandate is unfunded or underfunded,” Mr. Sarruda said.
   He said his district is assessing the impact of the bill and how to compensate staff that has been assigned the additional chores to comply with the law.
   ”The solution is to fund it,” Mr. Sarruda said.
   Superintendent Miller said there are two options: to fund it or to back off mandates.
   ”I know the state doesn’t have any money,” he said, therefore hoping that the mandate would expire.
   ”It’s ludicrous. I would love to see them back off,” Mr. Miller said, noting the district has already spent $1,000 to train two people. “The training’s already done — it’s a done deal. You can’t unspend the money.”
   Especially burdensome is the reporting process, he said. By state definition only bullying involving racial, sexual or physical incidents are covered under the law, but all incidents have to be reported (on paper and electronically), parents and school boards notified, students counseled, and appeals arranged.
   So far, 80 percent of reported incidents do not make the state definition but have to be processed anyway, Mr. Miller said.
   ”It’s not as though we have ignored (bullying). All districts have had anti-bully policies on the books for years and years,” he said.
   At the Bordentown Regional School District, Superintendent Constance Bauer said her district has historically had anti-bullying programs but has now added duties to existing staff at no extra compensation to comply with the new law.
   Dr. Bauer said collecting data on bullying incidents districtwide is helpful, but termed the new timetables, reporting and filing process as onerous.
   The emphasis being placed on fighting bullying in the new law creates a positive climate, she said, but it comes at the expense of reallocating limited resources.
   State Sen. Diane Allen, R-7th, a prime sponsor of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights legislation, said, “While I disagree strongly with the council’s rejection of the law, the Legislature needs to fix the law in accordance with the council’s findings…”
   The anti-bullying bill signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie last year, forces school districts to adopt or update policies on harassment, intimidation and bullying and to establish procedures for reporting such incidents.
   It also requires districts to establish coordinators at both the school and district levels to monitor and report on complaints.
   The issue of bullying was brought into sharp focus after Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi committed suicide in September 2010 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge following an incident where his roommate allegedly made a video recording of him with another male student and then broadcast it over the Internet.
   The Council on Local Mandates Chairman John A. Sweeney, a retired Superior Court judge in Burlington County, on Feb. 1 said the council supports what the law is trying to do but made its decision purely on the fact that the state did not include ready funding for the districts to implement it.
   ”We decided this was a mandate,” Mr. Sweeney said. “There was a fund provided (for districts to use) but there was no money in it and the Legislature has no intent of putting money in it.”
   The council considered the issue after the Allamuchy Board of Education in Warren County filed a complaint in August.
   ”We favor this law,” Mr. Sweeney said. “We think it is a good law and the Legislature should fix it.”
   Mr. Sweeney said if the Legislature does not take any action in the next 60 days, the law, as written, “would expire.”
   He said the Legislature should bring the amended law back in front of the council for reconsideration.
   Sen. Allen said she has already spoken with Gov. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd, about making the needed changes to keep the law operating.
   ”Given the emotional and physical scars being inflicted on children by this behavior — sometimes with truly tragic consequences — we cannot afford to go without a comprehensive and compulsory response to bullying in the public school system,” Sen. Allen said. “I have already spoken personally with the governor and the Senate president, and it is my hope we can soon put forth legislation to address perceived deficiencies in the law so that (the law) may continue to protect children without interruption.”
   New Jersey School Boards Association Executive Director Marie S. Bilik agreed that the law was good, but needs more work.
   ”The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is a well-intentioned statute designed to ensure that no child is ever afraid to go to school because of harassment or intimidation,” said Ms. Bilik. “Unfortunately, the legislation required more work prior to enactment, including consideration of the financial and staffing burdens placed on local school districts.”
   South Brunswick Superintendent Gary McCartney said his district is spending between $20,000-$25,000 since implementing the law in September.
   That money goes primarily to stipends for the coordinators at the individual schools, the coordinator for the district and other required programs.
   ”I believe the intent of the law is right on the money, Dr. McCartney said. “But the law is flawed. It is cumbersome (in the reporting procedures) and overwhelming.”
   Dr. McCartney said each reported incident generates a mound of paperwork including a series of letters to the offender, target and school officials.
   ”We are asking for relief from the procedures, not the law,” he said.