Nahant working on anti-bullying plan

NAHANT – Nahant adopted a comprehensive bullying policy for the Johnson Elementary School over the summer and now is in the process of appointing a nine-member committee to bring the district into compliance with new Department of Education (DOE) mandates.Superintendent Philip Devaux said the DOE is requiring all districts in the state to develop a comprehensive plan and sent out 14 pages of instructions. The plan must be in place by Dec. 1.Devaux said the committee would serve with Principal Diane Mulcahy, School Committee member Lissa Keane, two teachers, three parents and a police officer.”I think it’s something important for the schools to do,” School Committee member Christine Kendall said. “It requires school districts to form a committee and come up with a plan on how the bullying policy would be enforced so everyone knows how it will play out. This is new to all of us because it is new legislation. It came about very quickly.”Kendall said the district would not be required to rewrite its existing policy, which was passed this summer.”The bullying policy was written in accordance with DOE guidelines,” she said. “The bullying policy will stand. The plan is to come up with guidelines for intervention, teacher training, police involvement and so on. It is so everyone is on the same page and knows what to expect.”Kendall said the School Committee has not yet appointed most of the members to the committee, but she expects Officer Armand Conti, who is the liaison between the police department and school, to serve as the police department designee.Devaux said Nahant is at an advantage because it is a small district with only one school.”The DOE sent us a model plan,” Devaux said. “We have to modify it for our district. I am confident we can get it done in the time allowed because we are so small. I have worked in large school districts and to coordinate this type of thing in two months in a large urban district would be a logistical nightmare.”Mulcahy said there have not been any serious bullying incidents at Johnson School.”Everyone in any school system wants to ensure their school is a safe place,” she said. “Once we have the plan, it will be reviewed by the nine-member team. After it is approved the discipline code will be put in parent, staff and student handbooks.”