HILLSBOROUGH: School officials hope to decreae HIB cases

By Peter Sclafani, Staff Writer
   Hillsborough Public Schools will try to decrease the number of harassment, intimidation and bullying incidents after one year under the state’s new bullying prevention law.
   In 2011, the school district adopted a new policy that addressed and supported the goals of the new Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying law.
   This year, Hillsborough recorded 46 confirmed cases of HIB, a big jump from 18 cases in the 2010-11 school year and only eight in the 2009-10 school year.
   Hillsborough’s policy is designed to isolate instances of harassment, intimidation and bullying to address the problems more thoroughly than it has in the past.
   Community Outreach Coordinator Kia Bergman said the rise in the number of incidents is due to the new HIB law.
   ”More cases are classified due to the nuances of the law,” she said.
   District Anti-Bullying Coordinator and Assistant Superintendent for Human Recourses Scott Rocco highlighted the findings of HIB’s first year in the Hillsborough School District.
   Mr. Rocco stressed how specific the new law is in defining what can be classified as harassment, intimidation or bullying. Under the state law, incidents that are confirmed as HIB-related must undergo an investigation within 10 days of the incident being reported.
   For an incident to be classified as an act of harassment, intimidation and bullying two requirements must be met.
   First, the act must involve a protected class, which means the harassment, intimidation or bullying was based on characteristics such as race, gender or religion. The incident also must substantially disrupt the victim’s school day by creating an unsafe or hostile environment.
   Incidents that are not classified as HIB are handled through the school’s conduct policy. Out of the 46 incidents the school district handled, 33 of them involved some form of verbal abuse. Ten of the reports involved a physical altercation, four of the reports dealt with written abuse, and eight of them involved cyber-bullying or threats.
   Mr. Rocco explained many of the investigations involve more than one incident directed at a victim, therefore, the number of incident types adds up to more than the number of investigations. For example, he said, one incident may involve both a verbal and physical component.
   According to Mr. Rocco, the district did not have to expel any of the students involved in an HIB case. The district recommended 13 students to individual counseling, 45 students had a parent teacher conference, 35 had a parent-teacher conference, and 17 students were given in-school suspensions.
   Using the numbers from the first school year HIB was implemented, the Board of Education hopes to improve upon the number of instances of harassment, intimidation and bullying.
   Under the new law, teachers have received more training to prevent incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying as well as to provide support to students who are victims of it. In addition to teachers, prospective teachers, school staff and board members have completed training to prevent HIB in the school system.
   To ensure the schools in the district remain safe in the upcoming school year Mr. Rocco said the district will continue to have school safety teams meet during the school year, and the HIB policies and procedures will continually be addressed throughout the school year.