Single School Culture© Initiatives for Climate provides the programming and activities intended to create safe, supportive, and nurturing environments for staff and students. During the 2012-2013 school year, the Climate Team continued to address the prevention and intervention of mistreatment including bullying and harassment. Existing efforts and new resources have been aligned to the District’s model of Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) through the following levels:

Core Universal Instruction and Supports/Tier 1 for “ALL” provides prevention strategies that apply to all students and staff regardless of personal risk factors or attributes. We created a school and classroom climate plan that will be offered as part of the District’s efforts with School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SwPBS).

Supplemental Intervention and Supports/Tier 2 for “SOME” provides interventions for students who are at risk of being a bully or a bullying victim. We offer guidance concerning supervision of the physical spaces where bullying incidents are more likely to take place. In addition to administration and faculty supports we also enlisted student leaders as allies. Our focus this year was to promote student involvement and leadership. We ended the year with 20 active Safe School Ambassador (SSA) programs with the promise of four trainings in new schools in August and September of the 2013-2014 school year. SSA is a national program established in over 1,200 schools in the United States and Canada. In it, student opinion leaders from the sub-groups on a campus are trained to recognize and intervene skillfully in incidents of deliberate exclusion, put-downs, intimidation, unwanted physical contact, and acts of prejudice and stereotyping.

Ambassadors are very active allies in the promotion of positive school environments. We asked all our program advisors to count the interventions their group conducted in a one-week time period in the spring. As an example of the level of SSA activity, the 32 SSAs in one of our new schools this 2012-2013 school year, Elbridge Gale Elementary, recorded 232 interventions. 

Additionally, we partnered with the Anti-Defamation League to bring the No Place For Hate program to 13 schools this year, including nine schools that were part of a project funded by Impact 100.  This program helped member schools reduce their incidences of fighting and bullying dramatically.

Intensive Individual Intervention and Supports/Tier 3 for “INDIVIDUAL” students are applied either during or after a bullying incident. The District anti-bullying policy was written with the intention to reduce the damage from incidents, address student needs, and ensure that staff is prepared to prevent future incidents on all levels.

In the 2012-2013 school year, the Florida Department of Education began monitoring all school districts for compliance with the demands of the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Act of 2009. To complete the Assurance Form, the District submitted “Examples of Documents that Support Compliance” to the State for each compliance Item listed. The District was judged to be in compliance in all areas, including:

• default_titleCompliance Item 1: The District has a procedure for reporting an act of bullying or harassment, including provisions that permit a person to anonymously report such an act. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(f)
• default_titleCompliance Item 2: The District has a procedure for the prompt investigation of a report of bullying or harassment and the persons responsible for the investigation. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(g) The District has a procedure for the prompt investigation of a report of bullying or harassment and the persons responsible for the investigation. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(g)
• default_titleCompliance Item 3: The District has a procedure for providing immediate notification to the parents of a victim of bullying or harassment and the parents of the perpetrator of an act of bullying or harassment, as well as notification to all local agencies where criminal charges may be pursued against the perpetrator. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(i)
• default_titleCompliance Item 4: The District has a procedure to refer victims and perpetrators of bullying or harassment for counseling. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(j)
• default_titleCompliance Item 5: A procedure for including incidents of bullying or harassment in the school’s report of data concerning school safety and discipline is required under Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(k)
• default_titleCompliance Item 6: The District has a procedure for providing instruction to students, parents, teachers, school administrators, counseling staff, and school volunteers on identifying, preventing, and responding to bullying or harassment. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(l)
• default_titleCompliance Item 7: A procedure for publicizing the policy, which must include its publication in the code of student conduct required under the 2013 Florida Statutes 1006.07 and in all employee handbooks. Florida Statute 1006.147(4)(n)
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Ongoing since the 2009 school year, Single School Culture© Initiatives offered guidance, assistance, and consultation for over 280 issues.

Additionally, Single School Culture© Initiatives have developed a Bullying Awareness and Intervention website with resources that address the District’s broader mission to improve school and workplace climate for all employees and students.

In alignment with the District’s School-wide Positive Behavior Support (Sw-PBS) initiative, the website organizes resources using the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) approach by providing:

• default_titleTemplates and scripts which promote ethical expectations
• default_titleModels for procedures that are aligned with policy
• default_titleEffective prevention/intervention strategies that are supported by evidence-based practices and programs for specific stakeholders, District and school-wide leadership, classroom teachers, support staff, individual students and parent and community.
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This site will serve to maintain a District–wide focus to prevent and/or reduce the issues that lead to bullying and violence.