Bullying discussed by Clintonville School Board

CLINTONVILLE – The Clintonville Board of Education discussed bullying in the district at its April 13 board meeting.
Board President Glen Drew Lundt told the board that he has had several parents contact him directly about bullying in the school district.
“I’ve talked to teachers and nothing happens. I’ve talked to the kids’ parents and nothing happens,” Lundt said. “I don’t know what to do with that information, but some of it seems pretty serious.”
Clintonville Superintendent Troy Kuhn told the board that information about bullying should be given to the district’s administration. He added that he has heard indirectly that nothing is being done about bullying and that the administrative team isn’t doing anything about bullying.
“I’ve individually checked with every single administrator, every single one of those bullying harassment forms that have been handed to somebody, I know for a fact that they’ve worked on because I have checked in on every single one of those,” Kuhn said.

The district has bullying and harassment policies, Kuhn added.
“If we don’t follow them, we get in trouble,” Kuhn said.
Kuhn acknowledged that there is bullying in schools, but said he did not feel it was a problem in the Clintonville School District.
“I guess I’m disagreeing with what’s being said,” Kuhn said. “Every single situation we handle seriously. The police department is contacted. We have to report bullying in a special format to DPI (Department of Public Instruction). I have to fill out a yearly survey.”
James Blashe, principal of Clintonville High School, told the board that due to privacy rights, the administration cannot discuss the outcomes from bullying complaints.
Kuhn said that when he hears hearsay in the community or on social media, he informs the administrative team so the district can address it if there is any truth to the hearsay. He added that the district does not search social media for bullying discussions.
“I don’t want to say it’s not happening, but I’m saying if something happens, we take care of it because we have to,” Kuhn said.
Kuhn added that the only “gray area” is when students are on school buses. He said the district has addressed Lamers regarding some of the decisions it has been making.
“They have their own video footage on their buses and they kind of do their discipline,” Kuhn said.