The Deptford district’s HIB Assessment score for the last school year was an average 70 out of 78, a result announced at the Oct. 17 board of education meeting.
Scores are the result of self-assessments by each school’s HIB specialist. The numbers show how well the district performs in implementing aspects of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights (ABR) act in New Jersey.
Deptford’s score was announced by Mark Nicely, the district’s head of special serrvices.
“The team was assigned a rating for each indicator based on the criteria in available documentation,” he explained. “Each school self-assessment must be consistent with associated information and data collection by the district and data submitted by the NJDOE (New Jersey Department of Education).”
Each self-assessment was based on eight aspects that address specific HIB requirements. These include what goes on in the schools; training of the board of education based on HIB policy; staff instruction and training programs; curriculum and instruction on HIB and related skills and information; HIB personnel; school-level incident reporting procedures; investigation procedures; and HIB reporting.
“It’s becoming more and more on the schools to really dive in and change the philosophy of what’s being done in their schools,” Nicely noted. “How to take the initial action right away. What’s nice about the law right now is that the principal or acting administrator can actually look at the overall incident first.”
Each school was graded and earned the following scores: Pine Acres Early Childhood Center received a 65, Central Early Childhood Center got a 68, Shady Lane Elementary School earned a 74 and Oak Valley Elementary scored a 69. Both Good Intent and Lake Tract elementary schools each got a 70, as did the middle and high schools.
Nicely revealed the average scores of the prior two school years: a 70 for 2020-’21 and a 69 in 2021-’22.
“It’s not too far off that we have been pretty consistent over the last three years,” he observed, “which I think it shows in schools what students are doing and developing in the programs and just how they’re acting in incidents and working with the administration.”
The next board of ed meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 6:30 p.m.
