Schools must address bullying

The Legislature recommended it, but the State Board of Education is requiring it: Schools must address bullying — if they want to keep their share of $1.5 million in federal violence- and drug-prevention money.

"There are still too many kids who aren't comfortable in school, and we've got to do something about it," said Rob McDaniel, director of personnel and student services in Murray School District, whose board will discuss a proposed anti-bullying policy next week. "I think, culturally, we see it on TV, bullying occurs in music — it's just kind of a hard-knocks world out there right now. The only way we're going to fight it is to step up to the plate and (hit) it head on."

Bullying was a hot topic last Legislature, with residents pushing to address a problem that often flies under adults' radar or is treated as any other school discipline problem. Advocates say bullying is unique, can devastate victims and has risen, in the words of Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, to "epidemic proportions." Behavioral Initiative said bullying was the biggest problem facing schools — far ahead of drugs and gangs, as reported last spring to the state school board.

The Utah Legislature this year passed a resolution encouraging a statewide coalition and community effort to combat bullying.

The State Board of Education took that a step further last month. It now requires school districts to define and address bullying in school discipline plans if they want Safe and Drug Free Schools funding, which ranges from $626 in Daggett to $190,000 for Salt Lake City, based on enrollment and poverty, said Verne Larsen, Safe and Drug Free Schools specialist at the State Office of Education.

Districts must find ways to assess and prohibit the problem and train students and staff to identify bullying behaviors — including cyber-bullying — intervene and enforce consequences. The state is collecting information on offenses to gauge programs' success.

The idea is to ensure all districts recognize and uniformly address the problem, board chairman Kim Burningham said. "We're a little protected in this state compared to some real urban areas, and we need to know exactly how serious the problem is," Burningham said.

Some districts say bullying has been addressed in their policies regarding hazing and harassment. "The behavior described in the (state board) rule has been prohibited, though perhaps we have not given it the label, 'bullying,' " said Martin Bates, Granite District assistant to the superintendent.

But now, he and an Alpine spokeswoman say, that will change.