By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
There were 62 confirmed incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying in the East Windsor Regional School District during the 2016-17 school year, according to school district officials.
Of those 62 confirmed HIB incidents, the majority were verbal threats, Superintendent of Schools Richard Katz told the East Windsor Regional School District Board of Education.
And while the number of confirmed HIB incidents nearly doubled – from 33 during the 2015-16 school year to 62 during the 2016-17 school year – the increase was a result of incidents at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School, Katz said. Many were multiple offenses by a small number of the same students, he added.
The superintendent also cautioned that the number of confirmed HIB incidents should be kept in perspective. The 62 confirmed incidents represents a little more than 1 percent of the student population.
Katz attributed the increase in confirmed HIB incident in part to more reporting of such incidents during the past school year. Increased reporting is good, he said.
"We teach students that they have options when they believe they are being victimized," Katz said. "We encourage them also to be ‘upstanders’ when they see something inappropriate. When this happens, there will be more reporting."
In dealing with the offenders, Katz said, the school district is not focusing solely on punitive measures such as detention and suspension. The school district is including more support services, such as individual counseling and student and parent conferences.
"While the consequences help students understand negative actions have negative consequences, we are trying to utilize in-school consequences that keep our students in the building – when appropriate – and allow for increased efforts to remediate behaviors and choices through counseling, conferences and parent involvement," Katz said.
Katz said school district officials understand that sometimes there are incidents that they never become aware of, and that students are affected by those incidents.
"That is why, regardless of this data, we will always continue to deliver and reinforce character education, social-emotional learning, social skills and citizenship for all students through the regular course of our educational experiences," Katz said.
