Hallsville resident says more transparency is needed with school district regarding bullying

Hallsville residents are continuing to voice their concerns over school bullying after several bullying incidents made their way online.

Nearly a dozen Hallsville residents attended the Hallsville School Board meeting Thursday night. During the “citizen communication” portion of the agenda residents were able to make public comment.

The first was from student, Trevor Hill, who expressed his support to the district saying, “They’ve done everything they can at making sure bullying is addressed.”

Second was from Hallsville parent, Dawn Davis, who expressed concern over the districts current bullying policy and said it (the policy) needs to be clearly stated in the student handbook. Davis also added that more discipline needs to be enforced, which she said will in turn, deter students from bullying others.

The school board did not respond to any of the public comments, as stated in their school board policies, “questions directed to the board cannot always be answered immediately. All questions will be responded to by an appropriate person within the week wherever possible.”

The public comments come after a viral photo made its way around social media, words etched on a school stall, saying a student “needs to kill herself,” along with other name-calling.

ABC 17 News asked the Hallsville School District if they had a response, in an e-mail response:

“When incidents occur on our campus, our principals become involved right away… issues are discussed with those parties.”

Another incident showing a student getting their hair pulled by another student on a Hallsville school bus made its way through social media.

Davis said in response to these two incidents, enough is enough. “The bottom line is there should be zero tolerance and tougher consequences for kids that bully,” she said.

ABC 17 News looked through the current school handbooks on punishment. Currently, last year’s middle school student handbook is up, labeling bullying punishment under “general harassment.” The high school handbook is current and labels bullying as assault.