The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) has given its bullying prevention and intervention review panel more time to complete a study that was expected at the end of May 2020.
On Monday, trustees say they received an update on the logistics of the public consultation portion of the plan from the community members leading the panel and granted an extension until the third quarter of next year.
“Trustees approved the panel’s request to extend the timeline to ensure sufficient resources are provided for a highly engaging public consultation process,” said Alex Johnstone, chair of the board. “We will not wait to implement changes on revelations that come forward as a result of the public consultation — we will act immediately on emerging themes.”
The final report is now expected to be submitted to the board no later than Sept. 30, 2020 at no additional cost.
The HWDSB says 20 feedback sessions will be scheduled from January to May 2020. These sessions are intended to solicit public input from students, families, staff and community partners.
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Details are expected to be posted to the HWDSB Safe Schools website during the week of Jan. 6, 2020.
In mid-November, the HWDSB chose a team with significant experience in children’s health and well-being to lead its bullying review panel.
The panel includes three community members with connections to McMaster University as well as four advisers from an independent consulting firm with a background in bullying and mental health.
The review panel is expected to provide guidance and advice on bullying prevention strategies and tactics, according to the HWDSB.
However, last week, a number of unions representing education workers in Hamilton say they will develop their own task force after accusing local school boards of not doing enough to curb violence.
READ MORE: Teachers union to develop task force on violence, accuses school board of not doing enough
Jeff Sorensen, president of the union that represents Hamilton’s public elementary school teachers, told Global News that the task force aims to determine the extent of the problem and make its own recommendations to both the HWDSB and the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board.
“We know that our members are taking more time off related to violence in the workplace,” said Sorensen.
“We know that our WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) claims are increasing. We know our long-term disability rates are increasing. And those numbers can be traced back to workplace violence.”
Over the last several years, Sorensen says the unions have “constantly” told school boards about a number of incidents in which teachers were spat on, had punches thrown at them or were the target of threats.
“It does sound to be different but complementary to the panel that our board is putting together on bullying, which is a review on prevention and intervention, tactics and strategies,” Johnstone, chair of the HWDSB said of the teachers’ union’s task force.
The HWDSB announced in November that it would be stepping up its supports for students, parents and staff in light of the stabbing death of 14-year-old Devan Bracci-Selvey in early October.
Initiatives the board said it would introduce include classroom activities focusing on bullying prevention and intervention, an educational package for parents providing information on how to report bullying, training for school staff on “emotion coaching” and the redeployment of the HWDSB Helps website and app.
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