Waynesville presents anti-bullying program for teachers and parents

            The Waynesville R-VI School District is taking special steps to ensure a safe school environment by providing training for teachers and parents, training that is designed to help everyone to deal with and to respond to bullying in a prompt and positive manner.  To help with this training the district has hired McGrath Training Systems, a nationally recognized leader in educational training.  According to Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services, Darrel Vaughan, “Growing concerns about bullying have come to the forefront in recent years, and this is partially due to technology and the cyber world we live in today.  Our goal as a district is to come together and have a uniform Bullying Prevention Program across the district, pre-K – 12.  We believe that McGrath Training Systems can help us accomplish this goal.  McGrath will provide training to our students, staff, and parents.  This is going to be a great opportunity for our district to work together in unison with students, staff, and parents to help prevent bullying in our district.”

            McGrath has nearly 30 years of experience in education, and brings this expertise to address a very important issue; bullying.  The training will first be provided to administrators to help them to properly investigate and respond to bullying incidents and complaints.  It next will be provided to a group of counselors, teachers, and/or administrators, equipping them to provide bullying and harassment awareness training to students throughout the year and in subsequent years.

            In August, the district will have multiple informative sessions for parents.  This program has four goals: (1) informing parents of the district’s anti-bullying and harassment policies and student behavior expectations, (2) presenting and clarifying the district’s anti-bullying efforts, (3) increasing awareness of bullying behavior, and (4) informing parents about how to work in cooperation with the district when an incident occurs.  The parent meetings will be from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on August 15 (at Wood Elementary School), on August 16 (at Freedom Elementary School), and on August 17 (at Waynesville High School).  More information will be posted on the district web site.  Dr. Judene Blackburn, Superintendent for the Waynesville R-VI School District, emphasized that “We are appreciative of the opportunity to learn more about this growing issue from experts who have designed a comprehensive prevention program.  We encourage parents to learn with us by attending any of the training sessions which will be made available to them at convenient times and locations.  Our goal is for all students to feel safe and valued as individuals and this program supports that endeavor.”

            The Waynesville R-VI School District is looking forward to utilizing the anti-bullying program and partnering with parents and students to make school a safer, happier, and more productive learning environment.