A total of 180 Reports of Bullying in Attleboro Schools

The Attleboro School Committee received an update during its meeting on Monday on the school’s new anti-bullying policy, which was implemented earlier in the year.

In a report from Lisa Martiesian, the Director of Special Education and Student Services, there were a total of 180 reports of bullying in the Attleboro school district. The largest amount of reported incidents occurred in the high school and the fewest in the elementary schools, though Martiesian attributed the higher percentage of high school reports to its large size.

Of the total 180 reports, 102 were found to be substantiated, 73 were unsubstantiated and five were not yet classified and are currently still being investigated.

According to Martiesian, 73 percent of the unsubstantiated reports came from the middle school level.

The high level of reports that weren’t actually bullying shows a need for more parent education on what is and what is not bullying, and that there is a difference between conflicts and bullying.

To address the difference, a parental training session will be held on April 13 by the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center.

“Schools can’t do it alone,” Superintendent Pia Durkin said. “What happens on the weekends is difficult to deal with on Monday.”

Martiesian also explained that, while students will have a new disciplinary record each school year, the information about potential problems and conflicts will be known from year to year.

“If we have a safety plan for two students in middle school and they were moving on to high school we would let the high school know that,” Martiesian said.