The reporting of incidents of bullying and harassment has risen in South Brunswick in the wake of the anti-bullying law enacted last year. The law required the Board of Education to implement a 22-page anti-bullying policy, appoint a site coordinator at each school and one for the district, expand the requirements for reporting incidents of bullying, and provide training for faculty, board members and administrators.

However, the law was found to be unconstitutional by a state panel because the legislation didn't provide funding for schools to satisfy the new rules. The state Council on Local Mandates issued the ruling on Jan. 27 after hearing a case brought by the Allamuchy school district, which argued the law was unconstitutional because it was an "unfunded mandate" that diverted resources from other areas.

"We believe totally in the nobility of the HIB (Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying) law and the requirement to make sure our schools are free of that behavior," said Superintendent Gary McCartney during Monday evening's Board of Education meeting. "(The ruling) shouldn't change the level of pursuit."

Dr. McCartney said he's hopeful the state will find ways to make the procedural aspect of the law less cumbersome or provide additional funding.

An overview of the district's anti-bullying program was provided during Monday's meeting. Due to the law, South Brunswick appointed an anti-bullying coordinator for the entire district, in addition to each school naming an existing staff member as a site anti-bullying coordinator.

"These are very important jobs and we spent a lot of time in training," said Assistant Superintendant Joanne Kerekes. 

Thus far in the 2011-12 school year, there have been 88 incidents of HIB investigated, with 26 of those cases qualifying as HIB violations. Of those 26, 10 incidents occurred at the elementary school level out of 45 investigated, five at the middle school level out of 26 investigated, and 11 at South Brunswick High School out of 17 investigated. 

"What I take from that is the incidents reported at the high school were reported with a full understanding of what HIB is than on any other (grade level)," Dr. McCartney said. "We hope as we move along we'll get better at reporting."

With every HIB violation being recorded as an act of violence, there have been 35 acts of violence in the district thus far this year, versus 46 acts of violence during the 2010-11 school year. There have been six acts of vandalism for 2011-12, versus 9 acts for 2010-11, and zero incidents of weapons on school grounds this year, as opposed to three incidents last year.

There were seven incidents of substance abuse this year, versus 15 reported incidents last year.

"There were more reported violations (of HIB) this year due to the attention given to the law," McCartney said.

The protected categories for HIB include color (one reported incident of HIB in the district this year), religion (one reported HIB incident), origin (one HIB incident), ancestry (two HIB incidents), race (four HIB incidents), sexual orientation (two HIB incidents), disability (one HIB incident) and other (14 HIB incidents).

The category of other includes weight, size and physical appearance. 64 percent of these HIB incidents were related to name-calling over a student's weight.

Dr. McCartney credited the district's diversity for the number of HIB incidents related to religion and color being lower, but said more work needs to be done to help students understand that making fun of another student's physical appearance is unacceptable.

"One area we still need to help youngsters understand is that when they're angry name calling doesn't work." McCartney said. "Now it's been elevated to a violation of the law. It's no longer kid's stuff to call someone fat. Now it's a violation of the law."

Since September, 2011, the district has undertaken numerous initiatives and programs geared towards educating students, parents and staff members as to the details of the HIB law. District HIB coordinator Judy McCormick and Director of Professional Development Bonnie Capes presented the board with an overview of the steps taken to make sure there is a firm understanding of the HIB law. These included assembly programs, designing t-shirts, and morning meeting discussions.

Capes introduced a group of choral students from SBHS who sang an anti-bullying song titled "Don't Laugh at Me" during the meeting. The students added poignant lyrics from their own personal experiences with harassment.

"I want to thank all of you publicly for the compassion you have for your classmates," Capes told the chorus.

As the state investigates a process for HIB that has adequate financial support and doesn't divert resources from other programs, McCartney said South Brunswick would continue to vigorously pursue violations to make sure students aren't afraid to come to school.

"I doubt anyone could've done more in making sure we end this kind of behavior," he said.