http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_im...=/2013/04/anti-bullying_law_sparks_appea.html
on April 26, 2013 at 6:34 AM, updated April 26, 2013 at 12:49 PM
NEWARK Dressed in sneakers, dark pants and a sweater, looking more like he was ready to sit down with a teacher or coach than a judge, a Ridgewood teenager took the witness stand recently in a Newark courtroom.
Speaking in a low voice, the 15-year-old addressed the issue at hand: Whether he had called a girl in his eighth-grade class "horse," "fat" or "fat **s" and whether any comments made violated what has been called the toughest anti-bullying law in the country.
"I never made any remarks other than horse," the teen testified. "I did not have any intent."
The case before Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Gerson was brought by the boy and his father to appeal the Ridgewood School Boards decision that the teen bullied a middle school classmate last year.
The case is typical of a new type of legal phenomenon winding through New Jerseys courts one not entirely foreseen by many educators and legislators when the state enacted one of the most stringent anti-bullying laws in the country in 2011. The alleged bullies are filing appeals and their parents, often worried about a bullying charge staining a childs school record, are getting involved in hearings before judges from the state Office of Administrative Law.
At least 16 students, parents or teachers have filed appeals with the commissioner of education since New Jerseys Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights took effect in fall 2011; two have been decided so far. An untold number of others the state does not keep track have challenged school bullying findings to their local school boards, the first step in the appeal process.
While the overall number may be a small percentage of the more than 12,000 instances of bullying reported in New Jersey schools in the laws first year, a review by The Star-Ledger of appeals showed the issues can get complicated. Many cases involve social media or electronic communication; some pertain to events that did not take place at school. Incidents range from elementary to high school.
"The potential for harm is there. I think thats why were all here today," the father of the Ridgewood boy said in court. Neither he, nor his son nor the alleged bullying victim are being identified by The Star-Ledger, because the teens are juveniles.
Often the cases require the courts to bring the wisdom of a King Solomon to teenage talk overheard in school halls.
Consider:
…In Toms River, a high school student allegedly bullied another by re-tweeting a list of students names marked with the word "grenade." The alleged bullys parents appealed, saying the school board "overreacted to a minor incident."
The court file includes a page from the website urbandictionary.com, defining "grenade" as "the solitary ugly girl always found with a group of hotties."
…In South Plainfield, a couple is charging that their daughters algebra teacher bullied her after the school board decided otherwise. The parents said the teacher embarrassed and intimidated the girl, starting by calling her out in class for wearing a skirt the teacher felt was too short.
And at the Union County Vocational-Technical School, where a girl allegedly committed bullying with "insensitive" Twitter postings, the alleged bullys father challenged the school board. The father, who called his daughters messages "affectionate slang," said the tweets "were not directed at any specific victim but were everyday electronic messages among teenage associates."
He also said the school district "demonstrated profound ignorance of English vernacular" by accusing her of bullying.
Attorney Silvana Raso of Englewood Cliffs, who works on bullying cases, said sometimes the allegations sound like they involve "stupid things."
"Teenagers can do stupid things at times. Kids can do things that are ill-advised. But if a school feels it is harassment, intimidation or bullying, the school has to take action," she said. "Even though to an outside observer it looks like just one instance of a child calling someone by a bad name, usually there has been some (other) conduct between these two students."
One of Rasos clients is a Westwood boy whose parents sued the school board last year in Superior Court, alleging he was bullied. One month later, the school said Rasos client himself committed bullying.
His parents say the boy who now attends private school was harassed because of his Muslim faith.
Some experts say they expect an increasing number of appeals under the bullying law, while others believe the number will drop as the law becomes more familiar.
Attorney John Croot, a partner at Schwartz Simon Edelstein & Celso, which represents about 80 school districts, said he has seen fewer cases appealed to school boards this year. "I think common sense has begun to play into this a little bit," Croot said.
In the Ridgewood case, three school officials the superintendent, a middle school principal and an anti-bullying specialist spent a morning in court as the judge attempted to sort out whether the boy made bullying comments to his eighth-grade classmate. The boy is now a Ridgewood High School freshman.
"She was very upset," testified anti-bullying specialist Lara Sheer, who investigated the accusation in May 2012. "She believes the comments were made to her because shes not as skinny as some of her friends."
The boy said he did not think she was heavy, however, and testified that other kids also called her "horse."
Ridgewood school board attorney Jeffrey Merlino countered that. "There is no evidence she condoned being called a horse," he said.
New Jerseys anti-bullying law was adopted after a series of highly publicized suicides across the nation, including the death of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi. The law has been the subject of much discussion since.
The Ridgewood case delved into one issue that has arisen: What type of paper trail follows a bullying complaint.
Ridgewood Superintendent Daniel Fishbein testified that a record of a bullying determination will remain in the boys school file in his district, and Ridgewood must also report the information to the state, using the teens student identification number.
He said his district does not transmit disciplinary records to colleges with academic transcripts, when the time comes for college applications. But if the boys family moved, he did not know how the information would be handled.
The Ridgewood boys father said that threat was too great.
"I dont feel what my son said to this young woman constitutes violation of the harassment, intimidation and bullying law," he said. "Its possible that this could track my son through college graduation."
