School News

Anti-Bullying Scores in Brick Schools Hold Steady, Report Shows

by
Daniel Nee
August 16, 2018

Veterans Memorial Elementary School (Credit: Brick Township Schools)

Statistics issued by the state Department of Education and the Brick school district show bullying incidents generally remained steady last school year, with no more than a handful more or less incidents in a given age group.

As part of New Jersey’s harassment, intimidation and bullying – shortened to HIB – law, school districts must report the number of incidents each year, divided by age group. Each school building in the district is then given a score, with a maximum of 78 points.

The good news is that the Brick district scored above state averages in each building, with Brick Township High School receiving a perfect score. The remaining scores can be seen below. Overall, the district reported 19 HIB incidents at the high school level (compared to 14 during the 2016-17 school year), 19 in the middle schools (compared to 23 the prior year) and 10 cases at the elementary level, up from five a year earlier.

A school building’s score is determined by compliance with eight categories set forth by the state: HIB programs, approaches or other initiatives; training on the district’s HIB policy; staff instruction and training; curriculum and instruction on HIB; HIB personnel; school-level HIB incident reporting procedures; HIB investigation procedures; and HIB reporting.

“Training is continuous,” said Earl Mosely, the district’s anti-bullying coordinator, adding that students’ interaction via social media has become one of the major focus points of training for staff and programs for students.

“One of the things we have to continue to address is how the students use the internet,” Mosely said. “Every year it’s something new – new sites they’re going to and new things they’re doing – so it’s continuous. There is a lot of stuff out there. I’m a parent and we’ve had to deal with it in our house.”

There are several reporting periods each year for HIB incidents, and while some districts complete training during the first period, Brick continues it all year long, Mosely said.

School Scores

High Schools