PTO Wants To Do Bullying Survey

Parents said recently they want to try and help do something about concerns they have surrounding bullying and behavior in the Stephens County school system.

Becky Hewitt, the chairperson of the Fifth Grade Academy Parent Teacher Organization, spoke to the Stephens County Board of Education at its meeting earlier this month.

She said that she and many other parents are concerned about bullying and other behavior issues, specifically at the Fifth Grade Academy.

Hewitt said that the PTO wants to do what it can to help.

However, she said they feel that a “culture change” is necessary that has to be led by students who make sure their peers know that bullying is not okay.

To start the process of figuring out what to do next, Hewitt says that they want to do a survey of students in the fifth grade to get their thoughts on a number of issues.

Then, she said they would those survey results to determine how best to move forward.

Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey said the system wants to be supportive of such efforts anytime it can.

“When you talk about bullying, we are always concerned with how kids feel at school,” said Dorsey. “Just like we know, it has always been around where somebody has something to say that is deemed inappropriate. I would like to think our administrators look at that very carefully, but I will also say there is never an opportunity we should turn down to look at improving.”

Board of Education members said they are also supportive of doing what can be done to improve the issue.