CCSD closer to changing policies on student bullying
The Clark County School District is one step closer to updating its bullying policy, including ordering principals to inform parents within one school day that a student is either a victim of bullying or accused of bullying.
Board members Thursday night voted 6-0 that they intend to adopt changes to the district’s bullying and cyberbullying policy. They are expected to vote to accept the proposed changes at a Feb. 4 meeting.
The changes also included that principals or their designees shall begin an investigation of a reported incident no later than one school day after learning of it.
Jason Lamberth, whose 13-year-old daughter Hailee killed herself in 2013 after being bullied by fellow White Middle School students, found the board’s actions disingenuous. “They’re full of (expletive),” he said. “This is a step that should have taken place in 2013 when the Legislature passed it, not 18 months after.”
Hailee’s family filed a lawsuit in federal court in October, accusing the district of failing to inform them that she was being bullied. They believe if they had known of the bullying they may prevented her death.
Henderson’s White Middle School received a written report that Hailee was being bullied three weeks before she shot herself, but didn’t inform her parents.
In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed last month, the district said that the family’s claim that they lost a chance to intervene was “entirely speculative.”
“Would the parents have intervened at the moment of Hailee’s despair? Would this intervention have permanently averted Hailee’s suicide? These are questions which can never be answered without pure speculation,” the motion said.
Jason Lamberth learned Hailee was a victim of bullying three months after her death when he requested his daughter’s student file and found the bullying report.
Hailee, a straight-A student, was bullied by a male student who called her “fat” and “ugly” beginning in November 2013. Female students also bullied her in physical education, according to lawsuit documents.
In a suicide note Hailee said: “Please tell my school that I killed myself, so that the next time (name withheld) wants to call somebody (expletives), maybe they won’t.”
Lamberth did not speak during Thursday’s meeting and said afterward he’s spoken with district officials enough. Instead, he plans on working with state legislators during the upcoming session to strengthen anti-bullying laws.
He did say the board vote was a step toward positive change.
Meanwhile, a district official who has worked on revisions to the policy wouldn’t say whether Hailee’s death had any influence on the changes that the trustees will vote on next month.
Equity and diversity director Greta Peay said the district has been working on revising the policy since 2012. The new policy aims to bring the district in line with state policies adopted in 2013 by the Legislature, Peay said.
She added that the district may have to quickly adjust the policy again if this year’s Legislature changes state law and policy again.
Once the board approves the revisions, the policy will go into effect immediately, Peay said.
Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or702-224-5512. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe
