BELLEFONTE — Superintendent Roy Rakszawski shared new district-wide data on bullying this week as part of an ongoing effort to better track, understand and prevent incidents across Bellefonte Area schools.

While the new reporting system is clarifying how bullying is tracked and addressed, administrators say it’s also exposing confusion in the community about what actually counts as bullying.

“The focus of this initiative is to zero in on bullying so that we have a good sense of the extent of the problem, how we’re dealing with it and what we’re doing to prevent it,” Rakszawski said.

In February, he outlined 11 specific recommendations for BASD to better address bullying:

— Provide universal annual training for all staff and volunteers, including substitutes.

— Before next school year (2025-26), a mixed stakeholder team will research the most suitable training, ensuring it clearly defines bullying, distinguishes it from conflict and clarifies reporting requirements.

— Use a standard, district-wide reporting form for consistency and accessibility. The form will allow principals to make a preliminary determination and enables superintendent review to ensure accurate classification.

— Specified Reporting Timeline: Staff must report all bullying incidents to the principal within 24 hours, and principals must complete investigations within 10 school days.

— All bullying reports will be centrally tracked district-wide.

— Parents of both the alleged bully and victim will be notified of reports and investigation outcomes.

— Parents may appeal a bullying determination within 30 days, first to the principal, then to the Superintendent if needed, with the opportunity to present new information.

— Appoint a district-wide anti-bullying coordinator to oversee training, lead annual school self-assessments and consult on complex cases.

— Modify the self-assessment tool to generate a final score for longitudinal comparison.

— Provide a behavioral intervention for serious or repeat bullies, such as the Target Bullying Intervention Program.

— Track confirmed bullying incidents in student records. Three or more incidents in a student’s school career will trigger an administrative review and possible Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP).

At this week’s school board meeting, the superintendent provided his first update on the effectiveness of these recommendations, starting with data from district-wide reports.

Through a Google form, alleged bullying incidents have been recorded and monitored since the beginning of the year.

Across six schools, 30 alleged incidents were reported, though only two met the district’s criteria for bullying after investigation. Of those reports, 12 came from the high school, 11 from the middle school, five from Bellefonte Elementary, one each from Benner and Marion Walker elementaries and none from Pleasant Gap.

At BASD school principals have the discretion to make “preliminary determinations” when assessing whether a reported incident meets the criteria for bullying. Of the 30 reports, principals determined 21 of them were not bullying, instead falling into the categories of conflict, accidents or misunderstandings.

Each accusation is subject to the superintendent’s review, which he said provides an additional layer of oversight and accountability to ensure concerns are handled appropriately. He also clarified that preliminary determinations are reserved for cases that are “clearly and obviously not bullying.”

“If it’s not confirmed bullying, it does not mean it doesn’t warrant a disposition or a consequence,” Rakszawski clarified. “It just goes through a different pathway.”

Of the nine investigated incidents, only two met the district’s bullying criteria (Policy 249) — one at the high school, where a student substantially interfered with another’s educational progress, and one at the middle school, where a student created a threatening environment.

These statistics, which show bullying is relatively uncommon in the district, contrast with results from February’s parent survey, where 54% of respondents said they believe bullying is a significant issue in the schools.

The superintendent said the survey revealed widespread confusion about the difference between conflict and bullying, as well as the district’s approach to discipline. He added that the new data reinforces the need to better communicate how incidents are evaluated and addressed.

“I think this data points to that as well,” he said. “What’s becoming clear to us is there might be a misunderstanding among parents that, because this is an accentuated effort on our part, it equates with a zero-tolerance approach.”

He explained that principals still follow the code of conduct and apply progressive discipline, but said that “with the exception of extremely egregious cases, students involved in a confirmed bullying incident most likely will remain in school.”

He added that bullying generally does not warrant expulsion but instead calls for communication and remediation.

School Board President Jon Guizar agreed, saying, “The intent should be to educate both sides — bullies and non-bullies,” and that understanding “what’s behind it” is equally important to ensure students’ needs, including mental health support, are met.

Board Member Donna Smith said that, in her experience, what “seems to always be the problem” for students and families who report bullying is the feeling that the district didn’t do enough to help. So, she asked whether the district follows up with victims and their families to explain case outcomes.

The superintendent said it depends on the situation but promised to provide the board with a more detailed response on how that communication occurs. He also promised to share in a future meeting how confirmed bullying cases are mitigated.

Looking ahead, Rakszawski said he and anti-bullying coordinator Dr. Eckenroth plan to meet with school counselors and administrators to revisit protocols and determine additional training needs. The administration is also continuing to explore updated programming for repeat offenders and issuing a communication to parents that elaborates on district protocols and clears up policy misunderstandings.