Hamilton school board’s anti-bullying review delayed due to COVID-19
Published April 9, 2020 at 12:29 pm
The release of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s (HWDSB) Safe Schools: Bullying Prevention and Intervention Review Panel report will be delayed indefinitely.
The release of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s (HWDSB) Safe Schools: Bullying Prevention and Intervention Review Panel report will be delayed indefinitely.
On Wednesday (April 8), the Safe Schools Panel announced that due to COVID-19 and the cancellation of a number of public engagements, they cannot submit a fulsome report in September. They still plan to provide an interim report on May 25.
The final report will be pushed to a date to be determined when school closures have ended.
“The postponed sessions will delay the Safe Schools Panel’s process and final report; however, we have remained committed to this work,” the panel says in a press release.
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“The panel and HWDSB have met to revisit the remaining panel sessions, schedule of the report and the panel’s open online survey to ensure the research for the report is thorough and will be submitted in as timely a manner as this unprecedented situation allows.”
The session for racialized community members and a general session was postponed when it was initially announced that schools were going to be closed due to the pandemic.
Now the panel is saying that those sessions will be held in the fall and dates and times are forthcoming.
Also, a number of panel-only sessions with teachers, administrative staff, unions and others are postponed until the fall.
The interim report will look into themes that have emerged through the public engagement sessions so far and will determine how and when the panel will proceed with process of developing a fulsome report.
The online survey, which was to go live this month, will also be delayed to the fall.
“This is to ensure the survey has a high engagement rate and is reflective of all communities to allow the panel to make the most appropriate recommendations,” the release says.
The delay will undoubtedly disappoint staff, students and parents who have been calling for changes in schools to address what some say is rampant bullying.
The HWDSB’s bullying protocols came under increasing scrutiny following the murder of 13-year-old Devan Bracci-Selvey in October 2019. Bracci-Selvey was murdered outside of his East Hamilton school, Sir Winston Churchill, in front of his mother.
Bracci-Selvey was reportedly bullied by those currently facing charges in the incident that led to the boy’s death.
In the wake of the tragedy, the call among staff, students and members of the community to address anti-bullying measures in Hamilton schools was loud and adamant.
At each public session the Safe Schools panel holds, attendees are asked to share input on what HWDSB and its schools should stop doing, start doing or continue doing as it relates to bullying prevention, intervention, reporting and responding in order to maintain a positive school climate.
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