By Frank Mustac, Contributor
According to the most-recent report on harassment, intimidation and bullying in the school district, investigations revealed that only one incident was confirmed out of the six incidents logged by school officials., The confirmed case took place at Timberlane Middle School., The statistics are part of a semiannual report the state Department of Education requires on such incidents, as well as those involving violence, vandalism and substance abuse., Speaking at the Feb. 13 board of education meeting, Anthony Suozzo, human resources director for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, said the report covers the period from September to December 2016., Additional harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) incidents have been logged since the start of 2017, Souzzo said. Statistics on those cases, he said, will be made public in the next scheduled report., There were more than a dozen different incidents of substance abuse logged during the first half of the academic year, Suozzo said., “We had 15 different incidents,” he said, “One thing I will mention about substance abuse is we do have a few individuals who are multiple offenders – first and second offenses. Although it’s 15 on the number, it’s not actually 15 different students.”, Fourteen of the substance abuse incidents occurred at the Hopewell Valley Central High School, and one took place at Timberlane Middle School., One incident involving a weapon was also logged during the last four months of 2016., “That was an issue when a student actually brought matches to school,” Souzzo said. “Because that is something that can be considered to inflict bodily harm, that’s where it came into play.”, The incident involving matches took place at Hopewell Elementary School, according to the report available on the school district website., Actions taken as a result of all confirmed HIB incidents and others involving violence, vandalism or substance abuse that occurred from September to December, include four in-school suspensions issued, as well as 20 out-of-school suspensions., The school district also issued five “other disciplinary” actions, previously described by Suozzo as “after-school detention, Wednesday extended detention or even a Saturday suspension.”, Confirmed incidents involving substance abuse, weapons or vandalism all require suspension as governed in school board policy., Suozzo also described some of the proactive programs for student safety the school district has implemented, including “extensive training” for the administrative team with the district’s “anti-bullying specialists” in each building., “We have counselors, obviously, in all of our buildings,” he said. “Fortunately, we have a campus safety officer in each one of our six schools.”, “We have an excellent relationship with the Hopewell Township Police Department, and he have student assistance counselors at both the middle school and the high school,” he said., The school district held both a “Week of Respect” and a “Violence and Vandalism Awareness Week” in October. The district also conducts programs on character education and cultural competency., Superintendent Thomas Smith last year said, “The intent of cultural competency is to help our students and help the staff understand the world around them a little bit better.”, One reason for focusing on cultural competency, he said in 2016, was that the teachers in the district wanted to discuss “tough” subjects such as “race, class and gender” in the classroom.
