The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees tonight voted unanimously to adopt a Student Welfare Freedom from Bullying policy by a 9-0 vote to roaring applause from a packed auditorium.  The comprehensive policy had been expanded to enumerate protected categories including sexual orientation (actual or perceived) as well as gender identity and expression.  Additionally, the new eight page policy institutes definitions, training requirements and procedures for enforcement along with named personnel and phone numbers for students, faculty, administration, staff and parents to utilize when bullying issues arise.

During the Public Forum portion of the meeting, several members of the GLBT community spoke to the board with impassioned pleas for passage.  Omar Narvaez representing LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) shared an emotional testimony of a DISD student’s bullying and the lengths that his support group had to go to in preventing his suicide.  A couple of current DISD students also shared their compelling personal stories with the trustees.  Cece Cox with Resource Center Dallas addressed litigation concerns as well as examples of many organizations that have put similar types of fully enumerated protections in place without litigation consequences.

In the board discussion period, Trustee Eric Cowan gave special recognition to Trustees Lew Blackburn and Bernadette Nutall for taking the initiative to bring this ground breaking policy to fruition.  Trustee Nutall addressed the members of the GLBT community in the auditorium with an apology for the bullying experiences they had endured while in the DISD system.  Trustee Blackburn offered that the policy was necessary to help prevent suicides and stressed the importance of freedom from bullying to create a safe and effective learning environment.  Similarly, most of the other trustees offered similar remarks of support and echoed that DISD owes this new policy to the students and staff.

Several trustees elaborated upon their own personal bullying experiences during their school tenures adding to the universality and timelessness of the pain caused by bullying.

DGLA is proud to thank the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees for their commitment to providing a safe and nurturing environment for each and every one of the students in their charge.

The new policy may be reviewed at:

http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/BullyingRevised.pdf