Edmond parents ask school board to address bullying

Cara O’Daniel and Julie Daniel, both graduates of the Edmond school district, appeared at an Edmond School Board meeting earlier this month, urging bullying prevention and wanting a “zero tolerance” on the topic.

For O’Daniel some of the issue is personal as she alleges her teenage son is experiencing bullying. Some of that, she said, was turned over to the school resource officer, staffed by the Edmond Police Department. O’Daniel thought the intimidation might involve criminal behavior.

Edmond police spokeswoman Jennifer Wagnon said the report was filed in August but was no longer under investigation. She added the district attorney’s office declined charges in the matter, citing lack of evidence of a crime.

O’Daniel isn’t sure how the matter ultimately will be handled, although she said she has consulted an attorney.

But, even if her son hadn’t been directly affected, O’Daniel knows of other incidents that have happened to other children.

“The reality is sad,” she said. “It’s (bullying) still a huge issue in our school district.”

District information director Susan ParksSchlepp released a statement, reaffirming the district’s commitment to stop bullying and intimidation:

“Students who witness or are victims of harassment, bullying, or intimidation are encouraged to immediately report that information to a principal, counselor, teacher, and/ or parent/ guardian,” she wrote. “They then are asked to fill out the district’s harassment bullying report indicating the location, date and time and type of harassment or bullying, among other information. On the form, there is space for the student to describe in detail how they were bullied and to indicate whether the bullying was racial, sexual, religious, physical or electronic. An original of the form is given to the District Bullying Coordinator and a copy is kept on file at the school. Parents use this same form to report bullying. Recently, the district implemented the safety management system Gaggle, to proactively monitor students’ Gmail and Google G-Suite data for key words associated with bullying.”

During their presentation on Sept. 5, O’Daniel and Daniel were given five minutes to address the board. They were told the board would not be directly addressing their concerns during the meeting but would contact them after the meeting.

Nine days after the presentation, however, both women had not spoken directly with either administration or Edmond School Board members.

O’Daniel is requesting permission to speak again at the October board meeting.

She believes there remains “too much acceptance” of bullying in the school culture.

“It’s like a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude,” she said.

Both O’Daniel and Daniel said intimidation is now at higher levels because of the existence and expansion of social media. With cellphones, students can take embarrassing photographs of other students and post them.

“I think the administrators and the board members need to be aware of existing policies on bullying,” O’Daniel said.

Daniel wasn’t sure how knowledgeable students are on the policies, either.

“It would be interesting to know,” she said.

Parks-Schlepp said the policy on student harassment appears under policies and procedures for Edmond students, No. 4420.

Daniel, as expressed during the September meeting, wondered if more could be done.

“Are we doing everything possible to educate and prevent bullying? If we make a policy, who’s consistently making sure policies are enforced and all faculty are aware of the new policies?” she asked.