The Living Sky School Division Board of Education has adopted a Student Harassment Protocol for use in the 2014-15 school year.
It will complement the division's existing LSSD Discipline Policy and is meant to provide students and employees with a process by which they can successfully address harassment or bullying behaviours.
The board received a report on the proposed protocol at their last meeting, attended by principals Maureen Robertson of Unity Composite High School, Tonya Lehman of Battleford Central School (who will be moving to central office next year as one of three superintendents of curriculum and instruction) and Michelle Ramsay of Cut Knife High School.
Each of the three teachers described levels of harassment or bullying in the levels of one, two and three in the protocol. They also shared insights from their own schools' experiences.
Brian Quinn, who retires as superintendent of school operations, curriculum and instruction at the end of this school year, said the response to each of the three levels in the protocol, and further, could be described as "feather, flyswatter, hammer and earthquake territory."
The visiting teachers agreed with Quinn that addressing issues early on could mitigate escalation of bullying behaviours into higher levels. However, they pointed out, teachers and staff also know when not to step in - when their involvement may actually make things worse.
Robertson said of the protocol, "It's a wonderful document for process and investigation, for getting deeper into what is going on."
The document contains procedures and suggested practice allowing for those who engage in harassment or bullying behaviours to be dealt with in a corrective rather than a punitive manner.
However, the board of education expects supervisors to respond appropriately and if the situation is not resolved the aggressor may be subject to reprimand, suspension, dismissal (if an employee) or expulsion (if a student.)
The protocol does not rule out the involvement of the RCMP when appropriate.
