Howard County Public School System has an Anti-Bullying Task Force and has conducted seminars for its staff and students to learn more about bullying and ways to deal with it.
Have these efforts been effective?
Frank Aquino: “Yes, anything that assists in raising school community awareness is beneficial, but we must use several tools to be effective, including [an] anti-bullying curriculum to help students respond.”
Marcelino Bedolla: “The task force on bullying identified which school policies needed to be changed and made recommendations to that effect. The report is available at the Board office.”
Larry Cohen: “These efforts are in [their] initial stages. … [But] a recent [newspaper] article … talked about the [successful] anti-bullying campaign at one of our middle schools. … Intolerance for bullying [should be] part of all schools? culture[s].”
Allen Dyer: “The task force just completed its recommendations, so until the superintendent implements those recommendations, we won?t know whether the commendable efforts of the task force will bear fruit.”
Sandra French: “Yes, with greater emphasis on character education. Problems will decrease as the children learn ? from teachers, parents and each other ? positive ways to appreciate each other?s differences and how to deal with bullying situations.”
Ellen Flynn Giles: The “task force found anti-bullying recommendations [that led to the bullying policy.] We welcome information and input from all that w cultural proficiency training provides [an] essential skill set. Establishing school climate measures in SIT plans and system-wide implementation of best practices are critical next steps.”
Patricia Gordon: “The task force has given us … recommendation, [which] will help us to make informed decisions.”
Joshua Kaufman: “The task force is in its formative stages, but there has been an impact. Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies have been successful at pilot schools. Our discipline policies now take a harder line against bullying.”
Roger Lerner: “Too soon to tell. The task force came up with strong ideas, including teaching children at each grade level to stand up for each other. Effectiveness depends on implementation and commitment.”
Donald Byrd Marston Jr.: “It is a start in the right direction.”
Dr. Janet Siddiqui: “I was a member of the Anti-Bullying Task Force committee. The task force made recommendations to the BOE. This will be an ongoing process of education, prevention and evaluation of programs.”
Peter Sola: “The proof will be in the pudding, what do the statistics tells us? Are we moving toward changing the school culture? Students learn by modeling ? educate our teachers, counselors and administrators.”
Di Zou: “The Anti-Bullying Task Force is a good program, but it?s only been active for a couple months, so we do not have enough data to see if it has been effective.”
Paul Aliprando did not respond.
At a glance
» Today is the third story in a series that features the opinions of Howard County School Board candidates on school issues that were determined by The Examiner. On Friday, the candidates will discuss closing the academic achievement gap between minority students and other student groups.
