Proposal Would Eliminate Requirement to Report School Bullying Incidents to State

Taking steps to limit and eliminate bullying behavior in schools has been on Connecticut’s radar screen for more than a decade.  The state’s 2008 statute, “An Act Concerning School Learning Environment”, required every school district to develop and implement both a bullying policy and a prevention strategy, and that the State Department of Education (SDE) develop model policies and that school personnel be trained in bullying prevention.

In 2011, former Governor Dan Malloy signed into law Public Act 11-232, legislation that took comprehensive steps to ensure every child's right to learn in Connecticut public schools without fear of teasing, humiliation, or assault.  A year ago, Gov. Lamont signed multi-faceted legislation to further extend efforts to reduce bullying.

Now, the state legislature is considering a proposal that would “eliminate the requirement that each school under the jurisdiction of a local or regional board of education annually report the number of verified acts of bullying in such school to the Department of Education.”

The proposal has drawn quick opposition, with one organization, Special Education Equity for Kids in Connecticut (SEEK), the telling legislators it “sees no valid reason to repeal the reporting to the State Department of Education of incidents of bullying.”

The proposal also comes in the context of hundreds of incidents of bullying reported by Connecticut school districts during the 2018-19 school year, and some questions as to whether even those numbers are under reported.

According to data provided to CT by the Numbers by the State Department of Education, there were more than 550 bullying incidents reported statewide, including 120 in New Britain, 54 in Bridgeport and Waterbury, 51 in Hartford, 25 in Cheshire, 22 in Southington, and 21 in the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System.

The data also indicates that there were 20 bullying incidents reported by the school district in New Haven, 18 in Norwalk, 16 in Bristol, 15 in Norwich, 14 in CREC schools, and 12 in Stamford, New London, Fairfield, Manchester and Groton.  There were also 10 bullying incidents reported by Bethel schools, 9 in Weston and Wethersfield, 8 in Montville and Regional School District 16, 7 in East Lyme, Killingly and Ellington, and 6 in Suffield.

The statewide total appears to be down just slightly from 2014-15, when more than 600 bullying incidents were reported to SDE by local school districts with more than 6 incidents. Data from some school districts, including Waterbury that year, indicated fewer than 6 bullying incidents were reported.  New Britain reported 19 incidents in 2014-15, compared with 120 last year, perhaps suggesting that the district criteria may have differed, adding uncertainty as to whether the number of bullying incidents has changed much, or at all, in recent years.

The data from SDE does not include a statewide total for any year, and since those districts reporting fewer than 6 incidents are not listed with an exact number, an accurate total is not possible from the provided data.

At a public hearing this month conducted by the legislature’s Committee on Children, the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) expressed opposition to the proposal to end the reporting requirement (HB5145), expressing concern that eliminating reporting “could have unintended consequences. Reporting helps to shine a light on areas that require attention, such as the condition of school climate. Eliminating reporting requirements could compromise efforts to improve school learning conditions.”

CEA also noted that “One only has to look at news reports from earlier this month to recognize the risks of removing reporting requirements on issues affecting students. A recent news report by the New Haven Independent uncovered the intentional misreporting of student suspension by a charter school chain in New Haven. This same chain was cited years ago by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Civil Rights for delivering excessive discipline to children of color. Our concern is that if there were no statewide reporting requirement for issues, abuses could run rampant. Without the statewide collection of bullying data, very real problems would get swept under the rug — a problem that already occurs but would only be made worse by eliminating reporting requirements.”

In its testimony to legislators on February 18, SEEK pointed out that “Reporting leads to the publication of data. The more incidents the school board reports … the worse the reputational damage to the school district. The result has been that school officials frequently refuse to characterize as bullying behavior that is clearly bullying... So, the reports have not been accurate or reliable. Worse, however, in the case of bullying, is that, by failing to characterize certain behaviors as bullying, schools have failed to take the sort of actions that were appropriate and that are mandated by the statute. The answer, of course, is not eliminating the reporting requirement. The answer is to make the reporting meaningful and consistent across districts.”

The state legislature’s Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity indicated that “in Connecticut between 2011-2013, 1 in 6 students reported being bullied online, and 1 in 5 students reported being bullied in school. We know that students who report frequent bullying are at a high, long-term risk for suicide-related behavior. But bullying behavior does not exist in a vacuum-- students who bully often need support, too. Moving toward a less-punitive, more restorative way of addressing bullying will be better for all students.” 

The commission did not oppose the bill, because it states ““Each local and regional board of education shall develop and implement a safe school climate plan to address the existence of bullying and teen dating violence in its schools.” The bill lists multiple aspects that should be included in the plan, including an anonymous reporting system, requirements for school personnel to report and instances of bullying that they know about, and requiring the school climate specialist to conduct an investigation if a bullying report is submitted. Annually, the department has to submit a report on the status of its efforts, including an analysis of the responsive actions taken, an analysis of students responses, any recommendations it may have regarding additional activities or funding to prevent bullying in schools.”

Yet, just last year, the Connecticut General Assembly approved legislation, signed into law by Gov. Lamont, to

1. require local and regional boards of education to develop safe school climate policies,

2. require schools to assess school climate,

3. require the Department of Education to develop a social and emotional learning assessment instrument,

4. establish the duties of a safe school climate coordinator,

5. require local and regional boards of education to establish a social and emotional learning and school climate council in place of the existing safe school climate committee,

6. require the Department of Education to develop a model safe school climate policy, and

7. require local and regional boards of education to provide training on the prevention of and intervention in discrimination against and targeted harassment of students.

The Committee on Children has yet to schedule a vote on the proposal to eliminate the reporting requirement.