Does your district have a policy for this?

Earlier this week, the AP reported on a case of a middle school girl in Thibodaux, Louisiana, who was ongoingly bullied by boys at her school with AI-generated nudes. When the school ongoingly did not deal with it, she and others fought one of the boys on a school bus. She was kicked out of school; the boys did not face consequences from the district, 'though it appears that they are facing legal consequences now.

Two things: 

1. The responses of administrators in this story are maddening:
   "At the disciplinary hearing, the girl’s attorney asked why the sheriff’s deputy didn’t check the phone of the boy the girls were accusing and why he was allowed on the same bus as the girl. “Kids lie a lot,” responded Coriell, the principal. “They lie about all kinds of things. They blow lots of things out of proportion on a daily basis. In 17 years, they do it all the time. So to my knowledge, at 2 o’clock when I checked again, there were no pictures.”
   
   The superintendent commented that "a “one-sided story” had been presented of the case that fails to illustrate its “totality and complex nature.”
   
   After an appeal to the school board to get her back into her school:
   “She’s already been out of school enough,” one of the girl’s attorneys, Matt Ory, told the board on Nov. 5. “She is a victim.
    “She,” he repeated, “is a victim.”
    Martin, the superintendent, countered: “Sometimes in life we can be both victims and perpetrators.”
   
   
   
2. I continue to see headlines of districts passing what they appear to be calling "an AI policy."
   One policy? Really?
   Because unless you've gone through your policies and found all of the places where AI could impact district operations, this isn't covered in policy. Did you consider the above in your bullying policy? 

As I am typing this, I am seeing AFT President Randi Weingarten attempt to defend her position on AI on Bluesky: 

We know students, like the rest of the world, are using AI. Teachers need to be equipped to deal w/all the issues AI creates. Our approach starts with maximizing safety & privacy and empowering educators to make educational decisions, so AI tools can benefit not harm www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

[image or embed]

— Randi Weingarten 🖇️📚✊🇺🇸 (@rweingarten.bsky.social) December 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM

They can't.  

What happened at the first March meeting of the Worcester School Committee

And my apologies: it has been a big news week in Worcester, and I have been ill so I haven't been updating (I plan to spend some of the time I anticipate being snowbound this weekend catching up). Here, in any case, is what happened at the March 3, 2023 Worcester School Committee meeting, for which I was remote. As always, this is my perspective as a member of the Committee, so keep that filter in mind!

The agenda is here; the video of the meeting is here.

Note that we did open with executive session covering our negotiations with seven collective bargaining units, and we had public comment regarding those negotiations.

The report of the Superintendent was on Innovating in education. It starts about 11minutes into the video. Among other things, this gave us a demonstration of Chatbot GPT writing a lesson plan. Let me highlight a few things:
Here's where we were going:

                  

And education is caring for the present, while enabling for the future.
        

And we're moving towards this Vision of a Learner (which is how we're continuing what had been the Portrait of a Graduate) and then what that would mean. 

We had two reports out from Standing Committees: the February meetings of both Finance and Operations, and of Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports. I never got to summarize that F&O meeting, so let me just quickly note a few things:

• in terms of transportation, all of our large buses are now owned as well as operated by the Worcester Public Schools. We have added back, for the first time in two years, athletic after school runs (only two so far; more to come for spring). There is another delay on the midsize buses (yes, supply lines, still).
  
  
• There's $22.8M in ESSER funding going to HVAC and hot water. The bulk of this is going to HVAC work in nearly every WPS building. HOWEVER, in doing the full look at what is necessary, the report also noted that we need $200M in HVAC work alone. We have to pay attention to the enormous backlog we have in facilities.
  
  
• If there's anything at all that you're wondering about from a capital budget--that is, big work on buildings--side, the quarterly facilities report is the place to look. Our eyes, of course, are closely on (for example) Burncoat, where the wait for acceptance in the MSBA pipeline for a full renovation or rebuild has now resulted in a NEASC accreditation issue; we're in the process of getting a full review of exactly what it is that they are looking for and what that will cost (as, again, we've discussed over several meetings now). As always, though, there is a lot more in the report, as we have a lot of buildings. 
  
  
• we transferred a million dollars as a result of this report, and if you review the quarterly budget report (and do read our quarter budget report! They are an incredibly clear way to follow what goes on with our budget!), you'll see why: utilities are up! Way up! And we also (like many districts!) continue to have positions open, and so we've transferred money from salaries to overtime (specifically for custodial coverage). And on that last, as I said above: we have a lot of buildings, and a lot of space, and we're doing it with many fewer people. That has an impact. 

On TLSS, they discussed the ongoing use of tutoring services in the district; at this point, the administration is determining if the usage and utility justifies the cost. They also discussed school lunch and recess times--families and students may be interested in this comprehensive chart of all of them--with a motion to move all elementary schools to a 20 minute lunch without impacting the 30 minute recess, and reporting back on feasibility. The administration reported that lunch time at the secondary schools is sufficient. There will be further work and reports forthcoming on the district providing drivers ed and of the discussion on conduct and effort in grading policies. 

WE ARE CHANGING THE DATES OF OUR APRIL MEETINGS due to so many holidays and a vacation week! Stay tuned!

We are also required by state law to hold a public hearing--of the full committee!--on our budget after it comes out but before we deliberate. This year, WPS budget day--mark your calendars (you think I'm kidding? I do!)--will be FRIDAY, MAY 12! We will be deliberating and passing the budget on Thursday, June 1 and Thursday, June 15, so the hearing will be sometime between May 15 and 31. Stay tuned for that, too!

And in response to a parental concern, I've asked the administration to look at our bullying policy. More on that in a forthcoming report of the superintendent. 

The full Committee next meets Thursday, March 16. Please note that there is a meeting of Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports on Tuesday, March 14; Finance and Operations meets on Monday, March 20. 

October Board of Elementary and Secondary Education: technical fix on bullying regulation

 that's here

changes (strikethrough)

passes

Human Rights Watch on LGBT youth facing discrimination

Human Rights Watch has released a report on the discrimination and more faced by LGBT youth in schools in the U.S.

Human Rights Watch explored the many forms that anti-LGBT bullying takes, including physical violence, sexual assault, verbal harassment, cyberbullying, and exclusion. In many instances, teachers did not intervene, and in some cases educators participated in the harassment.

Particularly disturbing as the incoming administration has threatened to undercut or even end the Office of Civil Rights in the US Department of Education.

Teaching--and blogging--in Trump's America

Teachers aren't fueling student anxieties. They COME IN with anxieties we must overcome in order to teach. Once again. I am NOT the problem. https://t.co/wYnQIt02cw

— Lea M. Benson M.Ed. (@bledwine) November 17, 2016

   I've seen this expressed several times over the past week: teachers and parents are scaring children about what will happen under this coming administration. Most recently, I saw it in this AEI blog post. Others think that any actual danger to children in schools--not from the administration, but from others--has been exaggerated, as Secretary Peyser commented, by "social media."

Nonsense.

Larry Ferlazzo does an excellent job of taking apart the notion that children being made afraid by teachers or parents. Given the clearly expressed priorities and intentions of Mr. Trump and those in his campaign and incoming administration, fear from children about what the administration will do is, frankly, a logical reaction. It has been difficult to avoid this election; it has been nearly impossible to avoid news of the transition. Children don't only listen to parents talking directly to them; they listen to the news, see headlines, read social media, and watch television. They don't miss much. Only those who underestimate kids think that they don't know what's actually going on.

As for what is going on in schools, this post from Boston is encouraging. What they are battling against, however, is demonstrated in this report from the Cape. I could give a myraid of others. The Southern Poverty Law Foundation notes that they have had as many reports of hate crime and speech in the past week as they did in the previous six months.

Correlation isn't always causation. When the language around the treatment of women, people of color, the disabled, refugees, immigrants, gay and transgendered people, (am I missing any?) has been as explicit as it was from Mr. Trump and his surrogates, though, it is.

That's why Democrats for Education Reform issued the statement calling on Democrats (of whatever stripe) to refuse appointment in this administration:

...most pernicious, Trump gives both tacit and express endorsement to a dangerous set of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender stereotypes that assault the basic dignity of our children, causing incalculable harm not only to their sense of self, but also to their sense of belonging as accepted members of school communities and neighborhoods.

We're still waiting for any strong statement from our own Governor around this issue; as his Secretary of Education apparently feels the danger is exaggerated, I assume we won't see any leadership there, either. Thus it falls to those most close to children to do what they can to reassure them and keep them safe.

No, kids aren't being made afraid by teachers and parents. That responsibility, as with so much else, rests squarely with Mr. Trump.

"heartbreaking" levels of violence reported by gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth

As the Times reported earlier this week, a recently released report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found horrifying reports from gay, lesbian, and bisexual teenagers:

These adolescents were three times more likely than straight students to have been raped. They skipped school far more often because they did not feel safe; at least a third had been bullied on school property. And they were twice as likely as heterosexual students to have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. More than 40 percent of these students reported that they had seriously considered suicide, and 29 percent had made attempts to do so in the year before they took the survey. The percentage of those who used illegal drugs was many times greater than their heterosexual peers. While 1.3 percent of straight students said they had used heroin, for example, 6 percent of the gay, lesbian and bisexual students reported having done so.

Dan Savage, in his usual blunt way, wants to know what straight adults are going to do about it:

The LGBT community will do what it can—we will scream and yell, we will give money to GLSEN, we will try our best to let LGBT kids know that life isn't high school and share our coping mechanisms and strategies for getting through it—but if decent and loving straight people don't do something, if decent and loving straight people don't take action, if there aren't social and legal consequences for indecent and unloving straight people (why aren't parents who throw their queer kids out charged with child endangerment?), this won't stop.

 Our kids. Our schools. Our problem to fix.

Governance: policy

Proposed changes to the Student handbook are here
posting as we go

Rodrigues: three backups: current policy handbook, changes to handbook made in August 2014 (didn't make handbook), changes made in September 2014.
greatest volume of changes are those that were changes in the late summer/early fall of last year
some clarifications and cleaning up the language
others cleaning up language, clarification
Monfredo: legal changes run by principals?
Rodrigues: yes, and some changes made per request of principals

Foley: August and September changes made or marked in yellow are additional changes?
Monfredo: we're all set on the colors
pages through 7 approved
through 19 approved

Biancheria: changes made through pages 27-34: seems like a lot
Rodrigues: most changes already made last year; some details for clarification of which section applies; also need details for code on conduct
search of students or lockers brought to code of conduct section
added as part of the suspendable offenses under code
Biancheria: excluded?
Rodrigues: some of discipline may be excluding a student from extracurricular activities
Biancheria: creating another level of discipline? excluded not suspended?
Rodrigues: if you're suspended from school, not allowed in extracurricular activities; may be times principal may not suspend a student, but may exclude from an extracurricular activity

Biancheria: in reference to the bullying law
"school community members" are we talking about staff and students?
Rodrigues: bullying law has evolved: anyone within the school community
"anyone within the school community could be a target under the bullying law"
Biancheria: is this language that is being used frequently? or is this something we're doing?
Rodrigues:
Biancheria: is there a way to put that definition? not specific
Foley: concerned that it doesn't include everyone, could raise issues
Rodrigues: that way there's no one left...if we're going to catagorize staff
was furnished to us by legal counsel
Monfredo: counsel is agreeing with the statement
Novick: aggressor limited to student or staff; victim may be anyone (volunteer, site council member, parent)
Pezella: could include a volunteer, due to changes in MGL (now has added amendment which includes adults bullying students)
Foley: quoting the state law, talks about how we define bullying, what we're saying in the other paragraph below, not referencing the state law that's there; we're saying the civil rights are guaranteed.
Monfredo: let's leave it as it is, we can always make a change a year from now
Monfredo: not to make any changes about cell phones, motion to address cell phone use with secondary principals, about safety and academic use
Foley: legal counsel on search? Yes
glad to see changes on policy in deliberation with principals
"at a time we're struggling with technology...how do we come up with a plan that allows kids to manage that properly"
supportive of motion
passes
change on athletic eligibility: passing classes
Biancheria: who determines student's average?
Rodrigues: since this regulation, SAGE report can be printed,, shows who is eligible and who is not
athletic liaison lets coaches know
Biancheria: because student mobility is an issue, SAGE follows them? Yes.
approved
changes in school health nursing changes
changes in security measures: physical restraint (per state law)
homeschooling: motion to add language on participation in extracurricular activities
Rodrigues: waiting to have language approved state counsel
Biancheria wants to hold off on any discussion until she has numbers
Foley: may need to approve this book before we have a discussion
Rodrigues: approve the proposal with new language to be approved at a later date
Novick: clarification for our principals as much as anyone; the confusion isn't on the part of principals
Foley: if we have any language ahead of printing, ask for it
if we're following the law, bringing greater clarity to what we're doing
approved with change (pending, somewhat)
testing sections pass
change in time for Elm Park Community School: longer day per Level 4 turnaround plan
changes approved as proposed

Luster: proposed changes from Mass Commission on non-discrimination on Nondiscrimination
addition of criminal record, active military status, genetics, or ancestory (this throughout the section on Nondiscrimination, starting on page 8)
changes in address and phone
"up to and including termination" under finding of discrimination disciplinary action

Changes approved as amendment
this is before the full committee on Thursday night

MASC 13: Is it possible to prevent serious school violence?

Jack Levin, from Northeastern University
people wanting to feel powerful, because they feel a profound sense of powerlessness

Bullying reporting

Posting because the only thing that makes me more furious than a little kid getting beaten up is the people who are supposed to help him not doing so.

Massachusetts now requires all school districts to have a bullying plan, and what is required within it is very specific.
You can find the information regarding bullying right off the main Worcester Public Schools page (scroll down). That brings you to this page with all the information, including an introductory letter from Superintendent Boone.
The Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan (in English) spells out what the district does to prevent bullying, and what it does should bullying occur. The district's responsibilities in response to a bullying report are (from page 8):

• to ensure the safety of the target.
• to notify parents or guardians (and, as needed, other school districts, and, only if needed, law enforcement)
• to investigate all reported cases of bullying within twenty-four hours of the report being received. This will involve interviewing all those involved and witnesses.
• to make a determination that must, if bullying is found to have occurred, ensure that a plan is put in place that is "reasonably calculated to prevent recurrence and to ensure that the target is not restricted in participating in school or in benefiting from school activities."
• to notify parents of target and aggressor of the determination and plan within twenty-four hours of the investigation. 

Disciplinary action follows this.

The bullying report is here (in English; it is also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Albanian, and Vietnamese). 

Anyone may file a report: a student, a parent, a guardian, an after school provider, a teacher, a neighbor. It can even be filed anonymously, though no disciplinary measures will follow from an anonymous report.

It need not be filed with the school principal; you can send to the School Safety office and they will investigate it. 

You do not have to "wait for it to happen again."

You do not have to "establish a pattern of behavior."

This is serious business, and if, for any reason, you feel that something is taking place that should not, turn it in.
And please encourage others to do the same. 

Subcommittee today at 5:30

There is a meeting of the Standing Committee on Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports this evening at 5:30. You can find the agenda here.
Coming up on it:

• Nursing coverage at our summer school programs
• How far we've gotten on implementing the anti-bullying program
• Reporting out on the review of the special education report ('though I don't see an actual review here...hmmm)
• A report on this summer's programs
• A answer on crew requirements (including cost)

No live-blog from me tonight (it will be broadcast, as always, live on Ch. 11 and online via worcesterschools.org).

Note that the full School Committee meets Thursday at 4 (I'll do a post on that agenda later this week).

asking for an update on bullying

going to TLSS
Also a report on BRACE
Bullying Remediation and Court Education project: asking for a report

Premiere of "Words Can Work"

Words Can Work 

Bullying: True Stories
and
Educational Forum on Bullying

Massachusetts State House, Great Hall
Thursday, January 27, 2011

9:30AM - 12 noon 

Audience discussion with clinical and policy experts moderated by
Words Can Work creator Jeanne Blake

Eugene Beresin, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital

John Bynoe, Associate Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 

Robin D'Antona, EdD, Certified National Olweus Bullying Prevention Trainer

Barbara Leadholm, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Mental Health

Bryan Pridgen, MD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, McLean Hospital
Lauren Smith, MD, Medical Director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Gabrielle Viator, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division

Continental Breakfast will be served from 9:30 to 10:00. Program begins promptly at 10:00. Space is limited. RSVP for this free event with your name and organization to  info@wordscanwork.com. Registered representatives of schools/organizations will receive a Bullying: True Stories DVD and companion Words Can Work booklet to use as educational tools in their communities and schools.

TLSS subcommittee report

wellness policy
recess policy
bullying prevention
and recess
Request that the waiver portion of the recess policy be voted separately (from Novick)
(also that the policy be sent to CPPAC, that it be reviewed by parents, teachers, and students prior to spring review, and that site council be included in the budgeting decision for recess expenses)

Monfredo rises to defend the waiver: for "flexibility"
The mayor says that he doesn't find an exception for Gates Lane that compelling (as it abuts a state park)
Biancheria points the subcommittee meetings were standing room only (packed with principals)
Mullaney rises to clarify the objection: it seems like most schools aren't getting kids outside for 30 minutes

Mayor O'Brien reviews the list and counts five schools not able to implement recess and doesn't find it a compelling list
Mullaney says you can't count the time before school as recess
"I don't see what the fuss is about..."

Foley quips that we may find ourselves eliminating recess due to the budget gap
"strong supporter of school-based management"

Mayor says he's concerned by purported academic focus
Boone says that this is the principal voice, as requested; "continuing to work through...some potential solutions...not having recess is not one of these" options

Monfredo rises "importance of recess and academics"...engage in conversation around recess
Novick withdraws motion on exception clause pending a report back to the full committee

Councilor Burns of Forth Worth

Councilor Joel Burns of Fort Worth, TX, made his contribution to the "It Gets Better" Project from the Council floor earlier this week.


h/t Andrew Sullivan

Bullying

We're responsible for having plans surrounding student bullying under the state law. We're looking at how our current policies line up with that, what changes need to be made.
(I've entered a report from the National Education Policy Center on LGBT safety [linked!] for consideration, particularly in light of the suicides around the country.)

Bullying and WPS

And I should perhaps point out that the comment accompanying the (excellent) Worcester Magazine bullying article is correct: the child on whom the article focuses does not attend a Worcester Public School.

This week's School Committee agenda

Tomorrow night's School Committee agenda has a little bit of everything in it.
(For those who don't know how to find the agenda, go to worcesterschools.org, click on 'School Committee,' and the link to the agenda will be on the righthand side of the page. This works after Friday of the week preceeding a meeting.)

• The Superintendent is giving her "Start of School" report (you might remember that this got postponed the first week of school). If you're looking for numbers of kids enrolled, classes of a particular size, who's a new hire, number of buses used this year...have we got a report for you!
• We're thanking Target for the new Union Hill library and those from the court system for the painting this summer.
• Reports are coming back both from the Accountability subcommittee and the Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports meeting. That's the new accountability system, AP, innovation schools, vocational ed, community schools...
• We're going to (I think!) hear something about the South High swimming pool.
• There's a request going in on Latino education in the city of Worcester and creation of a group looking at that (more and more relevant all the time).
• Considering policies on bullying and on Facebook (social media; always a popular one!)
• A request for information on integration of early childhood ed with K-12 ed.
• A few things about Grafton Street. I've heard that we won't yet be getting a report on Grafton Street tomorrow night, but that it will be forthcoming soon.
• Approving some applications for the state's Green Repair program. This is for windows and doors at Burncoat High, roof repair at Jacob Hiatt, and HVAC/boiler at Union Hill (the old building: it's 117 this year!).
• We're seeing some grants coming in (including one from Homeland Security).

Executive session starts at 6; the public meeting will start right about 7 pm tomorrow night at City Hall.

Legislative budget update

Senators Moore and Chandler are here with with an update on the FY11 state budget.
*note that this is the House budget; the Senate budget comes out in two weeks
concern with using rainy day funds as it will hit the bond rating
(the rainy day fund has about $700 million now)
running out of stimulus funding (so may need rainy day fund then)
Have increased ed funding by $300 million over the last three years
House budget is $1 billion less than the Governor
many of the losses of government employees have been in health and human services
loss in capital gains revenue of 75%

Worcester $191 million coming here
$176 million was last year, so it's an increase ($14.6 million more)

Senator Chandler mentions that it's very nostalgic (she left SC 16 years ago)
circuit breaker cut down to $139 million
Senate President Murray suggested that they might revisit local aid if they're better than expected (tax due date was extended to May)

Legislation:
bullying bill: includes all school facilities and functions, buses, and bus stops
must have intervention plans
professional development and age-appropriate instruction in effect for next school year
(free or low cost to district)
principal or designee must investigate immediately
dropout age extended to 18: still in committee
H.1347: dress code legislation
out of committee favorably, pending in House (and has been for awhile)
Ed Reform: adequency study required
has to be done by Dec. 2011 (get in touch to find out when hearings are)
Commissioner gave Spirit of Knowledge their charter today