The Evesham Township Board of Education was presented with the district’s Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) school self-assessment report at its August meeting.
Danielle Magulick, director of curriculum and instruction for the school district, presented the self-assessment for determining grades under the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights (ABR) to the board members and attendees at the meeting.
“So it is that time of year again,” Magulick remarked. “It’s usually August or September, depending when we have all the information from the state that we give … to the board on the self-assessment that all schools do, per requirements at the end of the school year.”
The self-assessment process starts in May or June, when School Safety Teams (SSTs) assign ratings on self-assessment. In June, the state releases guidance on determining grades and opens a web-based reporting system where during the summer, schools report their assessments. The reports are then submitted to Magulick to review. Self-assessment grades are released later in the spring.
There are eight areas on which schools are scored, with points from zero to three given whether or not a school does or doesn’t meet, partially meets or exceeds all requirements. A school district’s grade is calculated by averaging the total scores on the self-assessment from all district schools. Each score in the district met or exceeded all standards for the self-assessment.
The district will then review and analyze the data with an anti-bullying specialist or counselors, curriculum coordinators (Magulick for Evesham) and principals. It will then discuss recommendations for improvement and develop those, then turn-key to SSTs at each school, which then sets goals for the year and how to implement them.
Some recommendations for the Evesham district’s 2024-’25 school year included emphasizing social-emotional competencies and integrating a “Responsibility Starts with Me” theme as a district and school-based initiative.
The complete HIB report can be viewed on district’s BoardDocs site within the August agenda document.
During his portion of the board meeting, Evesham Superintendent Dr. Justin Smith highlighted district staff for their work preparing for the start of the school year, as well as summer programs.
“We are less than three weeks from the first day of the ’24-’25 school year,” he noted. “Very excited for the first day having all our students back. I’d like to thank all the staff who made our summer programming so successful. Over 700 students participated in those programs.
“Many staff contribute to making those programs a success,” Smith added, “so I’d like to thank each and every staff member who gave their time during their hard-earned summer to help in this way.”
“We are all looking forward to a wonderful school year.”
The next board meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Marlton Middle.
