Anti-Bullying Information
Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB)
The Milltown School District has moved to an online incident reporting form. Please use the link below if you need to report an incident to be considered by our anti-bullying specialists. The following link provides families and caregivers the ability to report alleged HIB incidents confidentially and anonymously.
The School Climate State Coordinator serves as a resource to parents, students and educators at the NJDOE to assist with alleged acts of HIB, related policies, investigations and incident reporting. Contact information: NJDOE State School Climate Coordinator at [email protected]
Below are the most recent updates to the NJ Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act:
- If the school district’s policy permits the use of a preliminary determination for reports of HIB, then the superintendent must annually report to the Board of Education the number of times the preliminary determination was found to be outside the scope of HIB.
- If an alleged incident of HIB is later founded as a verified incident of HIB, copies of the results of the investigation shall be placed in the student’s record.
- If a student is founded to have committed three incidents of HIB, then a principal, in consultation with appropriate school staff, shall develop an individual student intervention plan which shall be approved by the superintendent of schools or the superintendent’s designee. Each subsequent act of verified HIB would also require a principal, in consultation with appropriate school staff, to develop an individual student intervention plan which would be approved by the superintendent of schools or the superintendent’s designee.
- When submitting a written report of HIB to the Administration, the written report shall be on the HIB 338 Form. The Milltown School District's online reporting form will automatically generate this form once it's submitted.
- The school district shall provide a means for a parent or guardian to complete the HIB 338 Form, specified for Families and Caregivers, online and confidentially to report an incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The Milltown school district's online reporting form gives families and caregivers this ability.
Milltown school district is committed to creating a safe learning environment for our students. New Jersey's Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights will help support that effort. Please alert your school anti-bullying specialist or principal of any situation involving harassment, intimidation or bullying. Working together, we can help maintain a positive school climate for our students.
Mr. Justin Bloss
District Anti-Bullying Coordinator
Ms. Amanda Stankowitz
Mr. Michael Tarrant
Mrs. Jennifer Pinnella
Parkview Anti-Bullying Specialist
Phone: 732-214-2360
Email: [email protected]
Children will occasionally experience disagreements with their peers. Incidents of HIB are identified when certain characteristics and motivating factors come into play. Milltown school district offers supervised conflict resolution meetings and peer mediation sessions to assist students with resolving normal conflict. However if an incident is identified as a HIB occurrence, disciplinary action will be taken by the administration and/or Board of Education.
The links below provides an explanation of normal conflict compared to bullying behaviors as well as other resources.
Milltown Public Schools C.A.R.E.S
The Milltown School District provides a positive, inclusive environment for all. In doing so, we promote skills that will address the development of the whole child. From Kindergarten through grade eight, teachers and students focus their daily activities to be based on our core values of Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control (CARES) as well as an academic growth mindset that focuses on perseverance. Largely through the use of positive, reinforcing language students develop a strong sense of self-esteem that focuses on their strengths and skills. By modeling respect for all, we teach our students how to show empathy for others. We build strong, inclusive communities in our classrooms, grade levels, schools, and district where students and teachers respect and care for one another, thus reducing bullying behaviors.
Proactive Systemic Approach
Positive School Climate and Culture
The Milltown School District subscribes to a proactive approach to anti-bullying. By focusing on positive, appropriate behaviors, we promote a caring environment where students are less likely to engage in bullying behaviors. Milltown School District believes in educating the whole child including their social-emotional skills. CARES, our core values, are taught and modeled from Kindergarten through eighth grade. In grades K-5 students participate in a daily community building Morning Meeting and in grades 6-8 they participate in Middle School Advisor where they have an Advisory Meeting. All grades take time at the beginning of each year to establish rules that focus on student goals and how to reach them. The creation process involves everyone thus giving students ownership of the rules. Students and teachers work together to create rules that are age appropriate ways of saying that all students should have respect for themselves, respect for all others, respect for the school environment and an academic, persevering, growth mindset.
Grades 1-3
In grades 1-3 students learn to recognize a bully situation and how to respond. They are given words and/or actions to take when they see someone is making someone else feel unsafe, embarrassed or alone. Students are also taught various ways to report bully behavior, how to keep their school environment safe for everyone, and how to resolve conflicts in a healthy way so relationships may be mended and endure.
Grades 4-5
Students receive weekly character education lessons from the School Counselor. Topics include bully prevention, respect, responsibility, fairness, trustworthiness, caring, citizenship, goal setting, decision making, drug and alcohol prevention, understanding and accepting differences, effective communication, identifying and managing emotions, stress management, conflict resolution, anger management, and peacemaking. The fifth graders have ten weeks of lessons with Milltown Police Officer Haefner on the L.E.A.D. Program (Law Enforcement Against Drugs on the streets and in the classroom).
Middle School Advisors
Sessions are facilitated by a middle school teacher and are designed to promote a sense of belonging and community in the middle school grades. This time is used to encourage cross-grade peer relationships by having students in grades 6, 7, and 8 together for one period a week. Advisory groups meet every Monday during the middle school elective period and address monthly topics related to bullying prevention, academic perseverance, stress reduction, goal-setting, and anti-alcohol and drug awareness. Students are able to request a teacher-advisor and remain with that same advisor throughout grades 6-8.
Peer Mediation
Peer mediation is a conflict resolution process that empowers students to mediate conflict among their peers. Students are trained to be peer mediators and how to mediate conflicts among their fellow students by a trained teacher.
Conflict Resolution
Conflict is a normal part of life. In Conflict Resolution, trained teachers work to use specific techniques such as identifying conflict and its sources to help give students the skills they need to solve conflicts on their own.
Peer Tutoring
A partnership between academically capable upper classmen and students in need of additional academic support fostering a positive academic and social relationship.
Assembly Programs
Periodic student assembly programs are scheduled throughout the year to reinforce and reward positive collective behavior by the schools.
Reactive Consequences to Identified Bullying Cases
Prescribed consequences may include one or a combination of interventions listed below.
Discipline
A student may be assigned disciplinary consequences according to the Code of Conduct found in the Parent and Student Handbook as determined by the administration. In addition, restorative practices are also used that focus on educating the student as to why what he/she did was a HIB offense. These practices may include things such as work in Suite 360, the use of Logical Consequences or other appropriate assignments.
HIB Remediation Program
Facilitated by a trained staff member, instructional lessons are developed to remediate the bullying behavior of a student based on the nature of the offense.
New Jersey is committed to keeping kids safe, healthy and in school. The DOE website offers further information on the current law and further related links.
StopBullying.gov is an official U.S. Government Web site managed by the Department of Health & Human Services in partnership with the Department of Education and Department of Justice.
Website is maintained by the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention. The mission of the NJ Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention is to increase community awareness of bullying as a common serious problem of school-age children and to advocate for the implementation of effective bullying prevention approaches in the State of New Jersey.