Chronic Absenteeism- You may or may not have seen that ODE has released a chronic absenteeism website titled Every-Day-Matters. There are some great resources to help schools help students improve attendance.
Bullying-October is bullying prevention month. It is a topic that is in the forefront whether it is October or any other month. It is a good bet that one of the top three questions you are asked or complaints you are given by parents falls into the bullying category. With that in mind, I’ve tried to come up with a series of questions/ answers/ points that you should be able to address when you are asked by a parent. Having clearly articulated thoughts/actions around these will do a couple of things. One, it will ensure that you are doing them and that you have a quality plan in place to prevent and respond to bullying. Two, it will help parents feel secure and confident in you and your school. This is not all inclusive. You can probably think of more that should be included. That’s ok. Add it to your repertoire. Parents who ask these questions are often unhappy. Hmmming and hawing with parents around any of these questions chip away at our credibility and their confidence in us providing their children with a safe environment.
- What is your school’s policy on bullying? Your school should be using our district policy. AC-AP . This policy addresses harassment, intimidation, bullying, cyberbullying and the like. It would be a good idea to be able to reference the policy, be familiar with the procedures and the highlights, and be able to summarize. The definition of bullying here may look a little different than what we’ve come to understand. Know the difference and be able to respond either way.
- What is Oregon law on bullying? This question is often used in a statement as in, “Oregon has laws against bullying….” ORS 339.351-339.364 address bullying. If you look this up, you will find the language strikingly similar to our policy. Knowing the policy is knowing the law.
- What are you doing to prevent bullying? You know better than I do all of the things you do at your school to prevent bullying. Some ideas are PBIS, social emotional instruction, school rules around how to treat others, specific bullying lessons, defining bullying with students, teaching students how to respond to being bullied or others being bullied, etc. Be able to discuss all of the preventative steps you are taking.
- What is the consequence/punishment for bullying? What do you do to bullies? Despite all of the preventative actions we take, students may still feel bullied. Address the steps taken when bullying is reported. Discuss investigation, remedial action, teaching that takes place, CPS, restorative justice, and the like.
- What are you doing to train employees? All employees take bullying prevention, identification and response training through our online safe schools training. Are there other things you are doing with staff to address the issue? If not, are there things you could do through your PBIS team, staff meetings, EA trainings, etc.?
This is a nice link to some bullying resources.
School Report Cards- ODE decided yesterday to release the school report cards today instead of November 15. Dave sent out a link to the report cards for your review. I will be talking with you about these during my next visit.
Reasonable Suspicion Training- Don’t forget to RSVP with Debbie Watkins for the reasonable suspicion training that will occur on Nov. 28 (2:00 – 5:00pm) if you are interested. See Debbie’s email (sent to you on Oct. 18, 4:00pm) for further details.
From Skip- The Health Advisory Committee is in need of members. Skip Offenhauser needs at least one admin and one teacher from each level to help screen and recommend supplementary materials for Health instruction. Here is the potential commitment for this year:
- November – all committee meeting to review our screening process in the past and make recommended changes for the future (2 hrs)
- January – review submitted applications ( 2hrs)
- February – listen to presentations, screen materials, make recommendations to school board (half day maybe a full day depending on the number of presentations)
- March – update to supplemental materials master list based on school board approval (1 hr)
That is the tentative schedule for this year. For future years the predicted schedule would be to have three meetings:
- Fall – review submitted applications and send invitations to present to the committee
- Winter – listen to presentations, screen materials, make recommendations to school board
- Spring – update supplemental list
Please let Skip Offenhauser know if you are interested in being part of this committee and/or if you have any teachers at your school who would like to be part of this committee. Teachers will timesheet their time after school and TLC will pick up the cost of any subs that might be needed.
Upcoming Events
11/5- Leadership Meeting- 3:15- Board Room
11/12- Veterans’ Day Observed- No School
11/19-11/23- Thanksgiving Break- No School
That’s all for today. I hope that conferences went well and that you are able to take a well-deserved three day weekend.