In the annual school performance reports published today, readers will find detailed information about county schools’ tests scores, graduation rates and discipline, among other data.
One thing they will not find is information about bullying incidents in the schools.
Bullying was removed from the annual reports after legislation passed last year separating bullying from school performance.
Among the statistics included in the report are graduation rates and the percentage of students in career and technical programs, which will come into play increasingly with the new Indiana graduation requirements that place more emphasis on career readiness starting with next year’s freshman class.
Both Franklin schools and Indian Creek schools saw its number of students involved in career and technical programs jump to more than 20 percent last year, joining Center Grove schools, which cleared that mark each of the last four years.
Edinburgh High School improved its graduation rate significantly, up to 98.2 percent last year from 94.3 percent in 2016-17. It now has the highest graduation rate among Johnson County public high schools.
Greenwood High School’s graduation rate fell below 90 percent for the first time in at least five years.
Last year, Indiana legislators passed House Bill 1356 into law, removing bullying incidents as one of the required data points included by each school in the Annual Performance Reports. Those reports are required by the Indiana Department of Education, and made available to the public each year.
“The reasoning behind (the bill) was because a bullying incident should not depict what goes on with the school,” said Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, who authored the bill. “I’m trying to get more bullying legislation to address that, but there’s so much push-back from the school corporations in regard to performance, even though they’re not reporting it anyway.”
Porter said he is also working on developing legislation that would require any school receiving state funding, including private schools that receive vouchers from the state, to adopt discipline rules prohibiting bullying. That bill was not presented during the current legislative session.
Although the number of bullying incidents is no longer included in school performance reports, those statistics are included in an annual report of bullying data from each public school.
The report published for the 2017-18 school year shows nine of the 36 Johnson County public schools reported zero incidents of bullying during the academic year, including four of the seven Clark-Pleasant schools, according to the department of education. Center Grove High School, which has more 2,500 students, according to the Indiana Department of Education, reported one bullying incident.
Center Grove spokesperson Stacy Conrad attributed the low numbers at its schools to the state’s definition of bullying, which she called narrow.
Bullying is defined by the state of Indiana as physical, verbal, electronic or social, which involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Along with these categories come possible exceptions to bullying, such as if the behavior is not repeated or if the individuals involved have equal power, although that’s not limited to strength. Exceptions are also made if the individuals are currently or used to be in a romantic relationship, according to the department of education.
Numbers reported to the state must match up with that state definition.
At Franklin schools, four of the eight schools reported three bullying incidents or fewer during the 2017-18 school year. Again, the state definition of bullying is what causes numbers to appear so low, Superintendent David Clendening said.
“We investigate all incidents and then we compare it to the definition of bullying the state gives us; it drives the numbers,” Clendening said. “We still deal with kids acting out and doing things. In addition, we continue to look at all incidents. With the new STOPIt (anonymous reporting) app, we’ll continue to make safety and security for kids a priority.”
Part of the reasoning behind passing House Bill 1356 was to take away any negative stigma about reporting bullying incidents, said Indiana Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn. Kruse sponsored the bill.
“One of the motivations was to make sure schools would report bullying incidents, and if they felt they were part of (how the state measures performance), they may not report them at all and call them something else,” Kruse said.
Bullying incidents have never factored into a school’s letter grade, which is based on test scores, student growth and graduation rates. The incidents have also never impacted funding provided to the schools, which is based on the size of the student body and the economic status of its students, among other factors, Indiana Department of Education spokesperson Adam Baker said.
“I think what (legislators) are getting at, is the general public looks at the performance reports and maybe all they focus on is bullying,” Baker said. “One of the things we’ve done with districts is ensure they understand the definition and be truthful in reporting. We work with conflict-resolution, we ask what resolution policies they have and how they are implemented.”
Baker added that he doesn’t believe schools under-report bullying intentionally. In past years, the reporting system would not alert users if they left a category, such as bullying incidents, blank, resulting in a zero appearing in that category. That error has since been corrected, he said.
Along with removing bullying from school performance reports, House Bill 1356 includes a provision for the department of education to audit schools if the department believes the numbers they report are inaccurate.
While the auditing process is a recent development, parents have always been able to alert the state if they feel a school is not reporting bullying incidents, Baker said.
Now that the process is a law, however, there is a legal requirement that parents can rely on if they feel there are any inaccuracies. Complaints must be directed at specific situations, such as if a parent believes a school did not report a bullying incident involving their child, he said.
