School board continues to focus on bullying

Better communication with parents and online reporting

By Kendra Walker 

The Gunnison Watershed School District board continues to discuss ways to improve its bullying prevention program. As previously reported in the Crested Butte News, the board has requested more data over the past couple of years regarding how well the district’s bullying prevention and restorative practices are working, based on concerns from parents that the policy does not protect bullied children.

In a bullying discussion during their May 19 meeting, superintendent Dr. Leslie Nichols revisited data from the 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which focuses on student health and well-being, and shared an update with the board on her efforts to improve the district’s bullying prevention policies. 

From the 2023 survey, in which approximately 450 high schoolers and 400 middle schoolers in the district participated, 29.3% of middle schoolers in the district reported being bullied on school property, 14.9% were bullied electronically and 25.5% were in a physical fight. Comparatively across the state, 26.1% of middle schoolers reported being bullied on school property, 13.4% were bullied electronically and 20.1% were in a physical fight. 

At the high school level, 16.2% of students reported being bullied on school property, 9.4% bullied electronically and 13.2% in a physical fight. That is compared to 12.2% of high school students statewide reporting being bullied on school property, 9.5% bullied electronically and 11.9% in a physical fight. 

“Does this concern you, seeing our numbers higher than state numbers?” asked board president Tyler Martineau. 

“Yes, it gets my attention,” said Nichols. “I don’t have great insights into why these are higher than state averages.” 

However, Nichols noted that the district is also trending higher with students feeling safe at school, pointing out that 65% of middle schoolers and 68.3% of high schoolers in the district reported that they feel they belong at school. Comparatively across the state, 65.9% of middle schoolers and 67% of high schoolers reported feelings of belonging at school. 

Nichols reiterated that one of the student well-being goals in the district’s Strategic Plan, adopted by the board earlier this spring, is that 80% or more of GWSD students by 2030 will report they agree or strongly agree in the survey that they feel they belong at school. The state survey is administered every other year, and students will have the opportunity to anonymously and voluntarily participate in the 2025 survey this coming fall.   

Nichols reported that the district continues its efforts in bullying prevention, including restorative practices, school handbooks, staff training and anti-bullying program. Nichols said the district is working on clarifying definitions of bullying, harassment and discrimination, emphasizing behavioral expectations and supporting administration with investigation and response practices. Another top priority is working on better communicating policies with parents, and she is looking into adding a specific bullying report page in addition to the district’s online Safe2Tell program.

“We’re getting great ideas from other districts. Some have a formal complaint form just for bullying,” said Nichols on improving the district’s online complaint form. “We want to improve how we give people access, and make them feel heard and responded to and the investigation is being done.”

“If enough parents used this and felt like they could use it, I think that would be a valuable data source,” said Martineau. 

Board member Anne Brookhart also suggested that the board looks at updating the district’s bullying policy. 

Martineau recognized the disconnect between parent perceptions of how the district is handling bullying versus the administration’s perceptions. “We still have to deal with this perception of parents that our restorative practices are not working,” he said. “It breeds real distrust in the mind of the parent.”

“We do respond to everything that we know about,” said Nichols, while also recognizing parents’ frustrations with the process. “I think my team will be making progress in better communication and listening when there’s a concern about bullying. It’s important that’s not the perception. I do feel like when there are incidents that arise, I’m proud of that work that our administrators do.”

Board member Mark VanderVeer suggested that heading into next year, Nichols and the board look into more regular reporting of bullying data within the district. 

“That will give us an idea of if we’re moving in the right direction in the trend,” he said. “Something that tells us if we’re making improvements or not, and if we’re seeing it at one school or another.”

Martineau agreed. “We want to know that our restorative practices are working. We hope the restorative practices reduce the number of incidents.”