Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • August 21, 2013 FLOW Area District meets anti-bullying law requirements by Frank J. McMahon The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District is meeting the requirements of the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, according to the first self- assessment conducted by the school district. However, improvement is needed according to the school district’s administration. The anti-bullying law was enacted in 2011, and the New Jersey Department of Education later directed all districts to con- duct an anti-bullying self-assessment each school year beginning with 2012-13. That first assessment is due by Aug. 31. Reporting on the self-assessment, Interim Superintendent Beverly Mackay explained that both schools in the regional district scored the same 56 out of 75 pos- sible points, which is somewhat above the 50 points that indicate all requirements were met. The assessment did not pertain to the number of harassment, intimidation, or bul- lying incidents that occurred in the district, but to indicators such as programs, training, and instruction. The scores are based on 25 indicator items in eight core categories of the assessment and the scores are calcu- lated on the basis of a point score of zero to three. Zero means a school does not meet requirements. One means the school par- tially meets requirements. Two means the school meets the requirements, and three means the school exceeds all requirements. Referring to the scores of both district high schools, Mackay said, “It’s a little lower than we’d like them to be but, we did meet all requirements in all categories. We will look to increase the number of our harassment, intimidation, or bullying pro- grams in order to increase our points. As we do more assessments, our scores will start to go up.” The eight core categories in the self- assessment are: HIB programs, approaches, or other initiatives; training on the board of education approved HIB policy; other staff instruction and training programs; cur- riculum and instruction on HIB and related information and skills; HIB personnel; school level HIB incident reporting pro- cedure; HIB investigation procedure; and HIB reporting. Both schools received a “meets or exceeds” score for all 25 indicators in the eight core categories. Mackay pointed out that the HIB law is Handy women very cumbersome for schools to follow and the reporting and investigation involved is very time consuming. School trustee Debra Strauss related her experience in another school district where they learned too late that all the activities involved in the HIB process require an abundance of proof. “It was very frustrating,” Strauss said, “because we did a lot of things but we didn’t know we needed proof of everything we did. The next time the scores will go up for everyone because now we know what they are looking for.” Three Ramapo High School students recently spent a week working with VOAD (Volunteer Organization Active in Disasters) of Bergen County and Rebuilding Together of New Jersey. Pictured are Aly LoPresti, Carly McHugh, and Nikki Sturno painting Washington Elementary School of Little Ferry. The 100-year-old school was damaged during Hurricane Sandy and plans to reopen in September.