HCPSS MPIA Request #2023-155

Requestor
Melissa Zawadzki
Requested Information
Under the Maryland Public Information Act Title 4, I am requesting an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of public records that report, summarize, or otherwise record incidents of bullying, harassment, or intimidation against students attending a public school under the jurisdiction of the Howard County Board of Education, including, but not limited to, reports make pursuant to Md. Ann. Code 7-424 (2012), in any format, written or electronic, for school years beginning August 2005 through the present.
Date Received
Status
Complete
Response Notes

Responsive to this request, a public annual report is produced by the Maryland State Department of Education that records data on incidents of bullying, harassment, and intimidation as required since the passage of the initial reporting law in 2005. The most recent March 2023 report can be found here: https://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Documents/DSFSS/SSSP/Bullying/Bullying-Legislative-Report-2021-22.pdf. These reports going back to 2006 can be found here: https://mlsd.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:41485/one. A summary of HCPSS policy and data collection in this area can be found in this 2020 report to the Board of Education: https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/hcpssmd/Board.nsf/files/BLYPLE651D51/$file/02%2027%202020%20Bullying%20Cyberbullying%20Harassment%20or%20Intimidation%20Report%20BR.pdf. In addition to the statewide report, under Appendix B of this report there is a chart that contains data HCPSS reports to MSDE annually under the Safe Schools Act.  

*Some request language is summarized to include the requester's specific document requests and legally protected information (such as personally identifiable information of a student) or personal, defamatory and malicious content removed at the discretion of the school system.

**Responses containing legally protected information available only to the person of interest are omitted from the above report.

***Howard County Public Schools reserves the right to remove erroneous or outdated documents from this site.