In 2002...

“Sergi, Commissioner of the CT Department of Education, is planning to have the Department of Education circulate copies of the Office of the Child Advocate’s investigation/report (of Daniel Scruggs death) to principals of the state’s 165 school districts”, said Thomas Murphy, a spokesperson for the department.

 (Meriden Record Journal 2/14/03)

*** The founder of AGPCAB INC called the Commissioner on 4/23/03 to see if in fact the report had been disseminated. The answer was NO...so AGPCAB INC sent each Superintendent a copy of  the report.

Connecticut Local and Regional Boards of Education

Public Act  No. 02-119 10-222d of the  CT General Statutes

Districts with no Bullying policy available upon request as of 4/17/03:

Norwich

Update-*Received policy on 10/20/03-adoption date 4/22/03

Sherman

Update-*Received  proposed policy on 1/13/04- not yet adopted

New Haven

Update-*Received policy on 11/18/03-adoption date not specified on policy

Shelton

Update-*Received policy on 10/14/03-adoption date 6/25/2003

Voluntown

Update-*Received policy on 7/26/03 -adoption date 7/17/03

Region 1  Schools;

Kent Center

Update-*Received  policy on 10/15/03-adoption date 11/7/02

Salisbury Central

Update-*Received  policy on 10/15/03-adoption date 10/28/02

Almost all of the policies AGPCAB Inc received from local and regional school districts accountable to P.A. No. 02-119 don't:

1. "Enable" (make feasible or able) the reporting process for parents or students. Rather, nearly every single one have changed the word "enable"  to "may", "permit",  "we encourage",  "we allow",  "can" , etc.,  putting  the burden of the reporting process on the reporter instead of the school- which has always been the case and has not worked.

2. Allow for complete anonymous student reporting. Instead, nearly every single one stipulate that students must come to a teacher/ administrator with a verbal or written report and at that time they may request anonymity  and that request may then be negotiated by the administrator.

This process is not enabling nor is it providing complete anonymity. It is, however,  intimidating.

Considering the dynamics of school bullying, both of these points are not only in conflict with the letter of the law, but also with combatting bully/victim problems.

Bullying policies AGPCAB Inc. received that have not been revised to meet the provisions of the new law:

Milford-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 11/13/01 -before P. A .No.02-119 was enacted -no revisions included

Oxford-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 4/10/01 -before P. A .No.02-119 was enacted-no revisions included

Salem-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 9/26/01 -before P. A .No.02-119 was enacted -no revisions included

Sprague-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 2/7/01 -before P. A .No.02-119 was enacted -no revisions included

Franklin-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 6/13/01 -before P.A .No.02-119 was enacted -no revisions included

Madison-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 6/05/01 -before P.A .No.02-119 was enacted -no revisions included

The Gilbert School-present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 2/21/01-before P.A. No. 02-119 was enacted-no revisions included

Explorations Charter School- present bullying policy sent to us was adopted on 9/16/99-before P.A. No. 02-119 was enacted-no revisions included

Bullying policies AGPCAB Inc. received that have additional specific concerns :

Woodstock Academy-present policy sent to us includes none of the provisions of P.A. No. 02-119 except the definition of bullying and general disciplinary action for students who engage in such behavior

East Haven- policy sent to us does not include language for anonymous student reporting, investigations after first written report by parents or availability of public list of verified acts of bullying

New London-policy sent to us does not include language for anonymous student reporting

Norfolk-policy sent to us does not include language for anonymous student reporting

North Branford- policy sent to us does not include language for  parent/student reporting, investigation procedures or availability of public list of verified acts of bullying

Orange- policy sent to us does not include language for parent reporting or availability of public list of verified acts of bullying

ACES Schools- statement  policy sent to us does not include language for student/parent reporting, investigating procedures, availability of public list of verified acts of bullying or an intervention strategy

The following Connecticut Charter Schools have given no response to a written request for a copy of their bullying policy & regulations as of 6/9/03

Amistad Acadmy -request 5/16/03

Brooklawn Academy -request 5/16/03

Common Ground High School -request 5/14/03

Update-*Received policy on 6/19/03- adoption date 6/16/03

Highville Mustard Seed Charter School -request -5/14/03

Interdist Sch for Arts and Comm -request 5/16/03

Jumoke Academy -request 5/16/03

Side by Side Community School -request 5/14/03

Trailblazers Academy- request 5/16/03

The following Connecticut Interdistrict Magnet Schools and Programs have no response to a written request for a copy of their bullying policy &regulations as of 6/9/03

Metropolitan Learning Center -request-5/14/03

Six -Six Magnet School -request 5/15/03

Regional Center for the Arts -request 5/14/03

East Hartford Glastonbury Elementary Magnet -request 5/14/03

Two Rivers Magnet Middle School -request 5/14/03

Tunxis Middle College High School -request 5/15/03

Hyde Leadership School- request 5/14/03

Hartford Magnet Middle School -request 5/14/03

Sports Sciences Academy -request 5/14/03

Breakthrough Academy -request 5/15/03

Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts -request 5/14/03

Benjamin Jepson Magnet School- request 5/14/03

Davis Twenty First Century Magnet Elementary- request 5/15/03

Sheridan Communications and Technology Magnet- request 5/14/03

High School in the Community -request 5/14/03

Hill Regional Career High School -request 5/14/03

Center for Global Studies- request 5/14/03

Multicultural Magnet Regional -request 5/14/03

Update-*received 10/01/03-policy does not include language concerning parent or student (anonymous)reporting, availability of verified lists & definition

Maloney Interdistrict Magnet -request  5/15/03

On September 13, 2003 AGPCAB INC sent a letter to all applicable principal/director's (approx. 1,050)  in the state of CT requesting a copy of their school's 2002-2003 school-year list of verified acts of bullying. (Freedom of Information Act) We noted that we would like to have the list completed by 10/15/03.

The reply  was  poor-see link below (2002-2003)

AGPCAB INC's request was a topic of discussion at the 9/23/03 CAMSP (Connecticut Association of Middle School Principals) meeting. In attendance were Preston Shaw, Norma Posocco, Carol Alvaro, Tom Heffernan,   John Lineen,  Carol Janssen,  Richard Heulsman, Rochelle Schwartz, Janice Tirinzoni & Earle Bidwell.

Documented minutes of the meeting state members of the CAS (Connecticut Association of Schools) Middle Level Boards have serious reservations regarding AGPCAB INC's motivation for requesting the lists of verified acts of  bullying, AGPCAB INC's legal status in obtaining them, and school's potential liability for making the lists available to AGPCAB INC.

*To view the minutes on line go to: http://www.casciac.org/scripts/show_minutes.cgi?meeting=25

AGPCAB INC's motivation for the request was clearly stated in the 9/15/30 letter;

To provide a centrally located source of reference that will display an overview of the information received from applicable schools.   If parents are unable to easily access a collective  perspective on bullying in our CT public schools, than it would seem highly unlikely they would be compelled into becoming pro-active in helping to stop bullying abuse.

AGPCAB INC's legal status to request the lists;

According to a 10/31/03 letter sent from CT Attorney Dan Shaban, AGPCAB INC has  the right to these lists under F0I-Freedom of Information Request.

*Another request letter went out in September of 2004 requesting the lists of verified acts of bullying for the 2003-2004 school year...the reply was poor again - see link below (2003-2004)

Number of Verified Acts of Bullying in CT Schools:

2002-2003

2003-2004