Dist. 15 wants to make it easier to report bullying

Palatine Township Elementary District 15 wants to make it easier for students and parents to submit anonymous reports of bullying.

As part of the initiative for the 2017-18 academic year, District 15 already has given a more noticeable placement of a link to use for the bullying reports on its general and individual school websites

In addition, said Deputy Superintendent Matthew Barbini, students will receive school-issued Chromebook laptop computers with the bullying and safety reporting center link automatically bookmarked on the device's toolbar to make it easier to locate.

However, a parent who spoke at public comment time at a recent District 15 meeting doubted the effectiveness of the online reporting link for younger students in the elementary buildings.

"No fourth-grader or fifth-grader is going to go online and anonymously report (bullying)," said Brent Larson, a Palatine zoning board of appeals member and president of Palatine Youth Baseball and Softball's executive board. "They just don't think like that."

Larson said he plans to organize a meeting for District 15 parents in July to review ideas on addressing bullying. He intends to return to the school board after meeting with the parents.

District 15's moves regarding the reporting of bullying came as part of a state law requiring public school systems to convene a parent-teacher advisory committee annually to review student behavior policies and provide recommendations for improvements to boards of education.

Among the seven recommendations is for district officials to view student misconduct as a way to provide a learning opportunity. The misconduct should be addressed from a position of caring, dignity and respect, while focusing on restorative approaches that repair relationships, according to the recommendation.

Committee member Kerry Wilson, principal of Plum Grove Junior High School in Rolling Meadows, said the discipline process must be fair to all students.

"We can't just look at the surface," Wilson said. "We have to dig deep with investigations and be fair."

Larson said it would help if an annual report were issued on the number of misconduct incidents and how they were addressed at the district's 21 buildings.

"We have no exposure to any of that information," he said.