Tonight the Rock Island/Milan school district is ready to take the next step to address bullying at school. The changes come a little more than a week after a parent stood before the school board asking for a change.
Back on February 26, 2015, a mom told the school board her oldest son was being bullied and hazed by his teammates from Rock Island's High School swim team. Not even a week later one of Rocky's top swimmers was suspended from competing for a state title for allegedly being involved.
The school district is still investigating what happened, but tonight the district's superintendent wants some changes to be implemented. Superintendent Dr. Mike Oberhaus made a statement at Tuesday's night school board meeting, saying the district's takes bullying very seriously and that the district tries to be fair and consistent while maintaining a safe environment.
Dr. Oberhaus says currently there are many proactive programs in the schools that deal with bullying. However, he wants to have meetings this spring with parents to get their input.
"We look forward to the engagement of the community on this important matter," said Dr. Oberhaus.
Dr. Oberhaus says they also plan on reviewing the district's handbooks this spring as well. Dr. Oberhaus gave a drafted plan on bullying policies to the board to look at and he wants their input by the end of the week so they can implement them soon.