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LEARNING SOMETHING NEW RE: HARASSMENT I always make sure that I read your magazine every month. It used to be


(in my earlier days) that I would glance through it and only read a few of the articles. But now I am forced to hang onto the magazine much longer because I find I need to read the whole magazine. I wanted to comment on your May article “Bullying or Harassment? Te


Answer is in the Federal Law.” Although federal law addresses bullying, I never thought of it as an OCR issue. Recently my eighth grader [daughter] had an issue with a student who was harassing (not bullying) her on her way home from the school bus stop. Te actions of this student had a dramatic effect on her emotional health and I felt completely helpless on how to help her. Learning about OCR complaints versus anti-bullying laws was interest-


ing and made complete sense to me. Tere are many children who are harassed because of their sexual orientation or their special needs and whose parents should file OCR complaints when their concerns are not addressed. It was interesting to learn that schools must take action re- gardless of whether the student makes a complaint. We kept hearing that my daughter had to “file a complaint.” Tis felt like lip service, and I was forced to remove my daughter from the school bus so that I could get her to go to school. I had the distinct pleasure of attending the unveiling of the new train-


ing program developed for school bus drivers by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education [June 7]. A short presentation with Kevin Jennings, assistant deputy secretary, and Mike Martin, executive director of NAPT, illustrated the long-term effect bul- lying can have on people into adulthood. Kudos to the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education for coming up with such an awesome training in such a short time! Whether it’s bullying or harassment, it’s an issue that requires our full


attention and help. Although many schools and school districts have tak- en great steps to address this, it still occurs often and the school bus and school bus stops have long been areas that have not received the atten- tion needed. Harassment and bullying are one of the top reasons I hear from parents as to why their children don’t ride the school bus. In closing, I completely agree with Dr. Stein’s comments that drivers al-


ready have enough to do and that their eyes need to be on the road. I have long been a big supporter of bus aides on every bus to manage student misbehavior. Seat belts could also assist with student management, but mostly each and every one of us must come forward and help a student because we can make a difference!


Diana Hollander, Director of Pupil Transportation Nevada Department of Education


5334 Torrance Blvd., 3rd Floor, Torrance, CA 90503 Tel: 310/792-2226 Fax: 310-792-2231 www.stnonline.com


Publisher: Tony Corpin Editor: Ryan Gray


Senior Editor: Stephane Babcock Senior Designer: Kimber Horne Graphic Designer: Maria Molina Copy Editor: Michelle Fisher


Contributing Editors:


Linda Bluth, Peggy Burns, Michelle Fisher, John Whelan, Dick Fischer, Denny Coughlin, Ned Einstein, Glen Moyer, Art Gissendaner, Anson Stewart, Robert Pudlewski


Vice President: Colette Paul General Manager: Branden Smeltzer Director of Marketing: Chris Berry Ad Sales: Tony Corpin Circulation: Andrea Hernandez Event Manager: Janna Smeltzer Chairman of the Board: Bill Paul, STN Media Group


Editorial Advisory Board:


Denny Coughlin, Consultant; Judith Dupille, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles; Dick Fischer, Trans-Consult; Ron Love, Delaware DOE; Randy McLerran, National Bus Sales; Pete Meslin, Newport-Mesa Unified; Nancy Netherland, Migrant-Seasonal Head Start; Robert Pudlewski, Consultant; Alexandra Robinson, NAPT; Launi Schmutz, Washington County Schools


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10 School Transportation News Magazine August 2011


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