August 2010 - The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Minutes of School Board Meeting – August 9, 2010 -4-School ClimateMr. Dempsey discussed “School Climate” and what this means. He stated that a whileago he and a group of administrators established the Social and Emotional LiteracyForum. This is a volunteer collaborative network of educators from Nassau and Suffolkcounties seeking to enhance school climate and increase academic achievement. Hediscussed its mission statement. School climate is a subject that includes bullying andcyber-bullying.Mr. Dempsey spoke of Mr. Halligan, a guest speaker who described his family’sexperience with bullying. His presentation was moving and was received well by thestudents and the parents. He spoke of the forum that was hosted by Senator Hannon atMattlin Middle School and how successful that was. He spoke of a group of Plainview-Old Bethpage parents and what they are trying to do to eliminate bullying in the schools.The Town of Oyster Bay has been in touch with him regarding what can be done towardeliminating bullying and educating the community.Discussion:Mrs. Lieberman stated that she was thrilled that we are looking at this very importantsubject. We have to make sure that we have a curriculum that piggy backs every year.It has to start in the kindergarten. When a child sees something, they should saysomething. You have to change the process starting with the younger children. Sheasked if it were possible to develop our own policy on bullying. She also stated that wehave to have consequences. If a child does something, there has to be a consequence.She spoke of a program in Norway and how successful it was.Parents, students and staff have to be on the same page. She expressed her view thata team approach is necessary. We have to teach our kids the end result.Mr. Cepeda appreciates that we are looking at this topic. They come up in cycles.Bullying does not only occur in the school setting. It happens in the community setting.Many times it then goes into the work place. We have to look at the whole picture. Wehave to bring in other groups from the community. This is a social issue that needs tobe addressed. He stated that it has to be broad. He reiterated that we have to bring inother groups.Mrs. Schulman feels we should reach out to the community. Parents need help andinformation especially in the area of technology. We have to help parents learn abouttechnology.
Minutes of School Board Meeting – August 9, 2010 -5-Mrs. Schulman stated it has to be community wide. There has to be appropriatesupervision and consequences. She stated that bullying is likely to occur duringrecreation.Mrs. Lieberman stated it occurs during recreation, in the back of buses, the bathroomsetc.Mrs. Schulman reiterated her views that there must be supervision.Mrs. Rothman spoke of a recent Board Retreat at which the Board discusseddeveloping strategies to reach out to the community. She noted we have done anoutstanding job in educating our children about drinking and driving. We have to haveour staff and administrators talk about updating our curriculum regarding bullying.Mrs. Bernstein asked where we go from here.Mr. Dempsey stated we have to generate goals around the topic in the next severalBoard meetings. What form of assessment do you use to identify these situations. Wehave to do research.Mrs. Bernstein noted that years ago, the district-wide Health Committee developed andadministered a bullying survey. She asked I it were possible to look at this.Mrs. Pierno agrees that we have to get a handle on what our community, staff and kidsthink. Are our programs sufficient. Are they doing the job. Surveys and focus groupslet us know if we are doing the right things. We have to pay attention to what the kidssay.Mr. Bettan expressed his views that the time is right for this. There are many forms ofsurveys available. We will have to decide how we want to integrate this into ourcurriculum. We have to involve all the members of the community. We have to treateveryone nicer and be respectful of one another. If one kid steps up, we will haveaccomplished something. This has to be incorporated into the curriculum.Mrs. Bernstein expressed her views that we have to involve the parents. We have to tryto change the culture of our whole community.Mr. Dempsey stated he wants to create a respectful environment.Mrs. Lieberman stated that using polite words could take the heat of certain situations.It is the beginning.
Page 1 and 2: Minutes of Special School Board Mee
Page 11 and 12: Minutes of School Board Meeting - A
Page 13: Minutes of School Board Meeting - A
Page 59: Minutes of School Board Meeting - A

August 2010 - The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?