With our opening day assemblies, students were informed of a new law, enacted to assist in helping put an end to bullying, intimidation, harassment and menacing. The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) was put into effect on July 1, 2012 in New York State. The regulation states that all students have a right to attend school in an environment that is free of discrimination, harassment or bullying.
As a result of the new law, school districts must assign a District Dignity Act Coordinator (Ms. Kim Lybolt, Director of Student Services) and each building must have a Building Dignity Act Coordinator (Mr. Eric Clark at the Jr/Sr. High School). Both have already attended trainings on how to deal with these situations when they arise and provide preventative measures to ensure that they don’t occur. The district also created a form that should be used when a student reports an incident that falls under this law.
DASA also expanded the list of reasons that somebody can be harassed or bullied, including but not limited to: race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practices, disability, sexual orientation, gender and sex. It is estimated that 43% of students have fallen victim to some type of harassment or intimidation while in school and over 90% of it goes unreported, which means that number may be underestimated. Those are extremely high numbers considering that these types of acts lead to high anxiety, less focus on academics and greater absenteeism among students.
For more information on bullying and DASA, please visit the school district’s anti-bullying page.
As a result of the new law, school districts must assign a District Dignity Act Coordinator (Ms. Kim Lybolt, Director of Student Services) and each building must have a Building Dignity Act Coordinator (Mr. Eric Clark at the Jr/Sr. High School). Both have already attended trainings on how to deal with these situations when they arise and provide preventative measures to ensure that they don’t occur. The district also created a form that should be used when a student reports an incident that falls under this law.
DASA also expanded the list of reasons that somebody can be harassed or bullied, including but not limited to: race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practices, disability, sexual orientation, gender and sex. It is estimated that 43% of students have fallen victim to some type of harassment or intimidation while in school and over 90% of it goes unreported, which means that number may be underestimated. Those are extremely high numbers considering that these types of acts lead to high anxiety, less focus on academics and greater absenteeism among students.
For more information on bullying and DASA, please visit the school district’s anti-bullying page.