CT Lawmaker's Implement New Approach in Battle Against Bullying

If you have a question or concern about special education law, school administration, federal standards, or the overall rights of a student, please feel free to call the expert education law attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at (203) 221-3100 .

Bullying has been a target of Connecticut educators and lawmakers since at least 2002, when a 12-year-old hanged himself after repeatedly being picked on at school.

A number of laws aimed at eliminating bullying -- including requirements that school districts report incidents to the state -- have been passed since Daniel Scruggs killed himself. But local education officials acknowledge that fighting bullying has been a daunting task.

As students head back into Connecticut classrooms, another round of anti-bullying legislation, passed last year, has taken effect, with districts required to pay closer attention to complaints through more-thorough reporting and prompt parental notification.

The new law -- aimed at helping prevent teen suicide -- responds to "alarming evidence that bullying impedes Connecticut students' ability to succeed in school," according to the General Assembly's Commission on Children. It requires all school employees to report bullying, including cyberbullying, that occurs in or out of school.

Under the new legislation, by this school year:

* Each school principal was required to appoint a "safe school climate specialist" to be the point person for preventing, identifying, investigating and recording bullying reports.

*Each superintendent was required to appoint a "safe school climate coordinator" for the district to implement "safe school climate plans," which, among other things, set deadlines for reporting, investigating and notifying parents and guardians of bullying. Coordinators must also collaborate with the schools' specialists, work with the superintendents and inform the state Department of Education of bullying issues.

*Each school also was to have appointed a "safe school climate committee" -- including at least one parent, appointed by the principal -- to identify and address patterns of bullying, review bullying reports and school policies, explain to the district its safe school climate plan and educate the school community on issues related to bullying.

A Courant review of state education records shows that Connecticut's largest cities -- Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven -- reported the most incidents of school bullying from 2005 to 2012. More than 1,250 incidents were reported to the state in that time. Authorities say it's not surprising that districts with more students would have more incidents.

The Hartford school district reported the highest number of verified bullying incidents -- 91 -- to the state from 2005 to 2012, state statistics show. The district has named Mario Florez as its safe school climate coordinator, according to district spokesman David Medina. Florez's annual salary is $70,055, Medina said. The position is being paid for with federal Title 1 funds earmarked specifically for the job, he said.

Florez, who has experience in crisis intervention, said he's hoping to "tackle" the high number of verified bullying incidents with the help of others in the district, which has more than 50 schools for its 21,360 students. Teachers have already gone through professional development to help them stop behavior that could escalate to bullying and to instruct them on how and when to report bullying incidents properly under district policy and the state law, Florez said.

Students will be participating in the "Character Education Program," which fosters "citizenship, kindness, empathy," Florez said. Parents will be embraced at the Welcome Center, which has been moved to the first floor of district headquarters. But perhaps the "biggest challenge" will be to ensure that community meetings are held to educate parents about bullying, he said.

"I think the community is going to see a big change," he said.

Not every bad behavior is considered bullying. The state has a lengthy definition of bullying, including the repeated use of communication, a gesture or physical act directed at or referring to another student in the same district that causes physical or emotional harm -- or fear of such harm.

A quarter of the state's high school students -- and 35 percent of the state's ninth-graders -- report having been bullied or harassed on school property, according to the Commission on Children. The Connecticut School Health Survey shows that state high school students who report being bullied are more likely to get less sleep, miss school because they feel unsafe, feel depressed, or attempt suicide, the commission notes on the state website.

Youth suicide is considered a public health problem in Connecticut. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in children who are 10 to 14 years old and the third-leading cause for people aged 15 to 24, according to the state.

Two other large cities -- New Haven and Bridgeport -- came in second and third in the number of verified bullying incidents reported to the state from 2005 to 2012. New Haven had 44 and Bridgeport reported 35, based on the statistics.

"As an urban district with more than 20,000 students, it is not surprising that New Haven would see more reports of bullying incidents than smaller, more suburban districts," district spokesman Abbe Smith said. "However, we investigate every reported incident of bullying at every school."

"Quite often the reports come back unfounded. When we verify a case of bullying, we take swift action to intervene, and that includes meeting with the aggressor, teachers, administrators and parents, taking disciplinary action against the bully, including possible arrest or expulsion if the case warrants it."

New Haven has designated Vallerie Hudson-Brown, the executive administrative assistant to Superintendent Reginald Mayo, as the district's safe school climate coordinator. Hudson-Brown, who has been with the district for 27 years and has a master's degree in social work, earns $66,000 a year, but will receive no stipend for the coordinator position, according to Smith.

New Haven has seen a "slight increase" in the number of reports of bullying, according to Smith. But not all of them are verified, she said.

"That is likely due to an increase in awareness as a result of our educational and student outreach efforts," she said.

It remains to be seen whether bullying reports overall will increase or decrease under the new law. The goal of the law is to create a safe school climate where bullying won't be tolerated. However, the reporting process is more regimented.

In the long run, the new law could save the state and its school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lawsuits regarding bullying can cost big bucks. For instance, in 2010, a Michigan jury ordered a school district to pay $800,000 to a student who was bullied by classmates for years, according to The Legal Examiner.

A similar case is already pending against Connecticut. A former student at Howell Cheney Technical High School in Manchester has filed a $750,000 civil complaint at U.S. District Court in New Haven against the state, charging that she was subjected to severe racism by other students, who she maintains called her the "n" word and pretended to hang her from a noose. The student, Meghan Williams, was deposed in the case last month, according to one of her lawyers, Jonathan Cantor.

"I feared for my life," Williams has told The Courant.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has already ordered school officials to make changes as a result of Williams' complaints.

Federal officials are now investigating another bullying report -- made by a brother and sister, Phillip and Mallorie DeJesus, who complained of being beaten so badly at Berlin High School that their mother says she had to pull them out of class. The school had already put into place its safe school climate committee in response to the anti-bullying legislation. But the case shows how bullying can go undetected or not addressed despite the new law and its requirements.

"We're awaiting, with great interest, the results of the federal Civil Rights Office's investigation," said their West Hartford lawyer, Gerald Sack.

Berlin school officials say that as a result of the DeJesus case and the new anti-bullying law, they are taking steps to identify behavior before it escalates to bullying. Assistant Superintendent Brian Benigni -- who has been named the district's new safe school climate coordinator without receiving additional pay -- notes that the Anti-Defamation League is sponsoring several programs in the schools, including one being launched this year thats called "Names Can Hurt."

"We're definitely taking a proactive stance," he said, adding, "I think that in education, student safety is paramount, and that's what bullying speaks to -- student safety."

The lawyer for the DeJesus family, meanwhile, has said he plans on filing a lawsuit in the case, where the girl was so distraught that she indicated she wanted to kill herself.

The girl's mother, Vivian DeJesus, has recalled her daughter crying, "I wish I would just die."

An initial state bullying law was put into effect in 2002 after Scruggs, a Meriden student, hanged himself in his bedroom closet after being repeatedly picked on at school.

The new law is modeled after Massachusetts legislation that was passed following a girl's suicide, which drew national attention.

If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.

Source: Denise Buffa, BATTLING THE SCHOOL BULLY ANEW; NEW LEGISLATION PUTS SHARPER FOCUS ON PERSISTENT PROBLEM, The Hartford Courant at A1 (Sept. 2, 2012)