Kerby man wants change in middle school's bullying policy

Cave Junction, Ore — With every new school year teachers and administrators say they have to deal with a bullying problem.

When it comes to keeping students safe, there is usually a bullying policy, but some parents aren’t satisfied and they want to see change.

Marvin Conrad says his daughter is being bullied and the school she’s attending isn’t doing enough to prevent it. Even after a report was made.

Now he wants to see change and the school district says they’re listening.

“I’m not gonna have her bullied, things have got to change,” said Conrad.

Conrad, who lives in Kerby, says his daughter is the victim of a bully.

“I had to pull my daughter out of school last year because of bullying, we’re in week three, and week two it’s already happening again,” said Conrad.

He says his daughter made a report at Lorna Byrne Middle School, but the next day the bullying continued so she fought back and that got her suspended.

I was always taught not to instigate but to defend and that’s what i taught my kids, she shouldn’t be punished for what i taught her,” said Conrad.

So Conrad took to social media to express his anger at the school’s bullying policy and he says he’s not alone.

“So far I’ve got a whole outpouring of response in support of what I’m doing,” said Conrad.

The Three Rivers School District says this and other recent incidents have them putting more emphasis on their zero-tolerance policy.

“We take every single report of bullying as truth when we get it, we deal with all of them as if they’re serious,” said David Valenzuela, Director of Teaching and Learnings for Three Rivers.

Valenzuela says with it being so early in the school year, it’s hard to make sure every student knows their role in bully prevention.

“Until we’re letting them know what bullying looks like, they can self reflect and they can get that through, then we can’t stop it, so that’s what we’re trying to do at Lorna Byrne,” said Valenzuela.

So the district is reaching out to parents to do their part in educating their children, a role Conrad points out is also the responsibility of the school.

“The school is responsible for our kids, from the time they leave the house to the time they come back, mental well being and physical, so they need to be accountable for that,” said Conrad.
One other parent who spoke with NBC5 says she’s been contacted by the principal of Lorna Byrne and she’s satisfied her child’s bullying issues have been resolved.

The school district says they’re organizing a parent run committee to work with the Middle School with the goal of abolishing bullying.