By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — School officials hope two district initiatives launched this fall will help quell the number of bias and bullying incidents reported by parents last spring.

First, after partnering for decades with the Anti-Defamation League to deliver faculty training and student programs, officials are taking it a step further by applying to become a “No Place for Hate” district.

A national, student-driven initiative, the program promotes collaboration among students, educators and the community working together proactively to fight all forms of bias and bullying by developing programs that foster an inclusive culture with schools, build a safe and supportive school environment and encouraging respect and understanding among students.

The second effort involves the roll out of a revised Code of Conduct, approved after much deliberation by the school board last spring. The code addresses dozens of types of student conduct, including hate-based incidents.

“I don’t believe our schools foment any of these bias or bullying incidents,” Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice told the Board of Education last week.

“I don’t think we teach kids how to hate or anything like that. The world penetrates our schools.”

Try as school officials might to protect students from outside events, Scarice said the best they can do is be proactive, as well as responsive, to situations as they arise.

“No Place for Hate”

Faith Sweeney, a district literacy coach, is coordinating the local “No Place for Hate” initiative that is in more than 1,900 schools across the country, according to the ADL website. Westport is thought to be the only district in the state trying to get the designation for each of its schools.

Sweeney said she already has coordinators in place at all eight Westport schools and work has begun to start student committees.

The committees, to be made up of 10 to 30 students, will be organized like a club, looking at school climate and deciding on student activities to address specific areas of concern at that school.

Sometime in October, all members of school communities will be asked to sign a No Place for Hate pledge.

The aim is for an all-school commitment, but 75 percent is required to receive the No Place for Hate designation. The title must be renewed annually, according to Assistant Supt. Anthony Buono.

Buono said district climate surveys, and perhaps focus groups, would be used to help target the needs at each school.

At the elementary level, one activity could involve students drawing pictures of themselves to invite discussion about similarities and differences, the board was told. Already done in some fourth-grade classes, the exercise would be school-wide for purposes of the ADL program. When the activities would be held depends on the school.

Scarice told the board that although each school must conduct three or more related activities each year, the time will be well spent.

“The programs are all there to serve academic achievement,” he said.

“I think this is good, but very broad,” said board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon. “My questions center more on how agile and nimble the district is when you deal with current events [such as the war between Israel and Hamas or Russia and Ukraine].”

“Do teachers get talking points?” Hordon asked. “Is the message the same?”

Topics like those generally get addressed through current events classes, said Buono. The overriding message, he added, is to make sure students know they are safe.

Hordon also asked how the district will measure the program’s success.

Buono said the goal is to see a decrease in bias and bullying.

“We will see the difference on climate surveys,” said Christine Wanner, coordinator of health and physical education for the district and co-chair of the district’s Equity Committee.

Heightened awareness could also lead to more reports if the environment is trusting, warned Scarice.

As for the activities themselves, each would conclude with a “how did it go” assessment, the board was told.

Code of Conduct rollout

The new 64-page Code of Conduct covers 59 possible student infractions — from skipping school to bullying to bringing a weapon to school — along with a host of potential consequences based on grade level, how often the offense has occurred and administrative discretion.

The code opens the door for stronger sanctions and loss of privileges for students who break the rules, particularly repeat offenders, but also involves restorative practices as part of the process.

Assistant Supt. Michael Rizzo told the board that staff spent the summer preparing for the roll out.

“I think people are taking it quite seriously,” Rizzo said.

The parent/guardian handbook has been updated. All parents are required to review and sign off on the Code of Conduct. Two weeks into the new school year, 75 to 80 percent have done so thus far, Rizzo said.

Students sign off on the new code as well.

Most are introduced to the document through grade-level assemblies and at the high school level during Connection Classes all students take.

Among areas highlighted will be infractions involving protected class harassment, hate-based conduct, social media usage, academic integrity, and smoking and drug use, the board was told.

The code was also reviewed by staff during faculty meetings at the start of the new academic year.

Student leadership groups have been tasked with creating public-service announcements highlighting some of the more prominent dos and don’ts of the code.

Next steps, said Rizzo, will be a review of how the code intersects with No Place for Hate work.

The district may also have to revise the maximum number of possible in-school suspension days a student can be assigned from 10 to five days to conform with a new state law.

“I am excited hear that we are really hitting ground running at start of school year [on this],” said board member Kevin Christie, who chairs the policy committee that hammed out the revised document and Student Discipline Policy that went with it.

Buono said by mid-year the district will start analyzing data it is now collecting on hate-based incidents.

The board is also set to discuss the possibility of anonymous reporting of bias and bullying incidents in October.

A number of parents advocated for anonymous reporting last spring, suggesting more students would come forward to report incidents if their identities were not revealed, but the board did not make it part of the revised policies.

Board member Abby Tolan said most parents probably won’t look at the document unless their children are involved in something.

“Most parents will never interact with this document,” Scarice said.

Michele Carey Moody, co-president of the Staples PTA, said she has asked for parent feedback on the new code, but has not yet received any.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.