The Saucon Valley School District recently posted a statement on its homepage in response to concerns raised by parents and students about bullying and racially-motivated harassment that has allegedly been taking place in district schools.
“District protocol dictates that when incidents of bullying, name calling and insensitive remarks are reported to administration, they are investigated and handled as the specific situation dictates,” the statement says. “In response to such incidents over the past several years, administrators have spoken with all students involved, parents and teachers and have then met with students and others as appropriate to discuss the behavior and consequences.”
In a Nov. 19 article published by the Morning Call, Saucon Valley superintendent Dr. Monica McHale-Small said in response to a question about parental complaints about the use of the N-word against African-American students, that use of the word by a student or staff member would trigger a response from administrators.
McHale-Small said she can’t discuss any possible disciplinary actions that would be taken because of privacy issues, and confirmed that there was a racially-motivated incident involving a teacher at Saucon. That issue cannot be discussed because of personnel issues, and it’s unclear if the teacher is still employed at Saucon Valley.
“Often counselors are involved as well to process through the situation with the students and to educate the students about the hurtfulness of their words,” the statement published on the SVSD website said. “Additionally, there have been situations where the counselors have delivered classroom lessons and/or have met with small groups of students.”
Moving forward, the district indicated in its post that it plans to develop “a plan with all stakeholders that will address the concerns that have been raised in the past months. Students, parents, staff, school directors and community members are integral to making this commitment a success. We believe that our efforts will reflect the true spirit of our community as we move our district to be a place where all our students are valued for their unique contribution to our schools.”
“The Saucon Valley School Directors and Administration are committed to working with our community to ensure that our schools are places of acceptance and inclusion,” it adds. “We believe that every student needs to feel welcome and part of our district.”
