BY ANDREAS YILMA
CITIZENS NEWS
NAUGATUCK – The school district is planning to hold a community conversation on bullying right before the beginning of the upcoming academic year.
Superintendent of Schools Christopher Montini previously said at an April borough budget workshop that the school district isn’t turning a blind eye to bullying as it was dealing with an issue involving an 8-year old student. Several people, mainly parents, voiced concerns of bullying being a problem in schools at the Board of Education meeting in May.
School officials have scheduled to hold a community conversation around school climate, bullying and poor social behavior in the borough sometime between Aug. 14 and Aug. 22. The school district is expecting to announce an exact date and location about a month in advance, Montini said at the June 13 school board meeting.
Academic officials have spoken with and/or met several of the school district’s community partners which will be part of the conversation, including state Department of Education climate lead and education consultant Amanda Pickett, Wellmore Director of Mobile Crisis Rosa Baldino and a Sokes Counseling member.
Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said he thinks that it was a good selection of people to participate in the event.
“The reason for this sort of gap if you will would be really time to have folks give time for their participation, to be able to publicize and give advanced notice to folks so that we’ll have more folks on the heels of entering the school as opposed to the last week of school participate and we’ll be able to take some time to collaborate for meaningful planning and collaboration and design of the event,” Montini said.
Board of Education member Bob Mezzo said the initiative is good but wanted to know what was going to come out of the discussion.
“Is the plan to have something emanate from this in terms of more formal committee with community stakeholders?,” Mezzo said. “I think these community conversations are wonderful but if that’s all that’s done.”
Montini said the purpose of the community conversation is to seek input and school officials will have to develop thoughtful, meaningful questions but in ways in which the school district improve in regards to some of its practices.
“I don’t know if folks know that we have counselors from Stokes in schools that then partner and provide wrap-around services to students or the supports that Wellmore give,” Montini said.
Montini said school officials aren’t looking for citizens on patrol in school buildings but rather more points of view from the community.
“We’re going to open the dialogue and that could lead to ongoing community conversations or whatever format I think collectively we decide is fruitful and it works. We want to listen but we’re intending to act,” Montini said.
“We’re not waiting to develop a plan. We have plans. We have very good plans but what we don’t have is widespread perspective from the community on improving those.”
Montini said the school district is not going to have a meeting and everything is going to get fixed immediately, but rather improving over time.
“There’s also a likelihood that we then replicate these conversations at each school in the fall,” Montini said. “So I’m not assuming or thinking that it’s going to be sort of one-stop shopping but I think we start the conversation rolling at that point.
Montini said one of the borough schools did immediately schedule about a week after an incident a coffee talk or a community conversation. “It could be that we start the community conversation, then that feeds the schools where they’re taking it and running with their own, tailoring it.” Montini said.
