The Examiner U-46 News FeedChild removed from U-46 due to ‘hate crimes’ By Seth Hancock
Bullying continues to be an issue raised in public schools, including in School District U-46.
In U-46, a parent or student wishing to report an incident are asked to first go to their school administrator, the building principal, and can also submit a report online using the bullying form located under quick links and through the families tab at u-46.org according to Mary Fergus, director of school and community relations.
On the form the alleged victim is asked to give some details on the what, where, when and who of an incident as well as providing contact information, which is optional.
“The report form will be received by the Coordinator for Student Discipline and the School Principal,” Fergus said.
Recently a mother, Tahira Stephens, contacted The Examiner stating she had pulled her son out of Liberty Elementary School in Bartlett after alleged “hate crimes” occurred against her son. Unhappy with the district’s response, she chose to home school her son.
Fergus said “we don’t speak about specific student cases,” but she did provide details on the policies and procedures that are expected to be followed by the district when a report is made.
Bullying cases are mostly “handled by the building administrators” according to Fergus with support from the central office. She said social workers with the social-emotional response team, or SERT, investigate the case along with the school administration and central office help.
“The SERT will analyze the written report and conduct interviews with the student who was allegedly bullied, their family, and staff using a structured format,” Fergus said. “The student records of all students will be reviewed, including those who could be involved in the situation but aren’t the primary students. If appropriate, the SERT team will go to the school and observe the students in the classroom or on the playground.”
After gathering evidence, Fergus said it is reviewed alongside the board policy and state statutes in order to see if it meets the threshold of bullying.
Bullying is defined by the district, located on its bullying page, as an action “placing the student or students in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s or students’ person or property,” “causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student’s or students’ physical or mental health,” “substantially interfering with the student’s or students’ academic performance” or “substantially interfering with the student’s or students’ ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.”
If it is found to be bullying, Fergus said “the SERT will provide suggested resolutions for the administrators to use. They sit with the principal to discuss these, and even if it’s not technically bullying, they might suggest a restorative conference. SERT will conduct the parent interview with the impacted student’s parents and hear what the parent’s(s’) desired resolutions might be.”
A student can request a transfer either in the same school or to another school according to Fergus who said to move to a different school a request in writing must be made to the proper assistant superintendent and is considered by the residency exception committee. In-school transfers are considered by building administrators “dependent on class size and class availability,” and a parent can request a transfer for their child but “can’t require the alleged bully to be moved.”
“We try to keep people in place as much as possible; to resolve the issues rather than separate,” said Fergus who added: “Other restorative practices can be written apologies, returning something if taken, fixing something if broken, verbal apologies. Making it right is our goal.”
Consequences for students in violation of the Student Code of Conduct could include “losing privileges, detention, all the way through an out-of-school suspension,” Fergus said.
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