Local students and parents demanded during Tuesday’s board meeting that Denton ISD officials resolve alleged campus bullying. The open forum grew tense and emotional at times, with one parent shouting an expletive as she left the boardroom in frustration.
The statements from students, parents and advocates follow a recent incident that led to the arrest of an adult who boarded a Denton ISD school bus and allegedly assaulted a Bettye Myers Middle School student and then attacked the same student moments later after she got off the bus. Both incidents were captured on video shared with KTVT-TV (CBS 11). The district has barred the adults involved in the incident from any district property.
“Some of y’all might know my story,” she told board members. “I was beaten up by adults and a child in my school. I told the principals and assistant principals and the counselors everything that was going on. Nobody — they failed to do anything.”
The middle school student was among several families and community members who read anonymous accounts of bullying from parents, reporting that bullying has made school a cycle of fear and anxiety for them. Another mother wept as she recalled her son’s attack at Guyer High School sending him to the hospital, where, she said, he was treated for a brain injury that still affects him.
Melinda Preston, executive director of Denton County Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative, faith-based political group, gave elected officials and the school superintendent a packet of information about Texas laws regarding bullying and hazing.
“We are here tonight to protect the Denton ISD students,” Preston said. “We have had many parents reach out to us about the issue of bullying at Denton ISD campuses.”
Preston said state laws allow districts to remove students from campuses and place them in disciplinary alternative centers. She said the district is not removing students from campus. However, in a previous statement, Denton ISD said one student involved in the school bus assault won’t return to campus.
Several of the reports recounted that students had threatened their children and then escalated their aggression and threats after their targets reported the bullying to teachers, principals and administrators.
Kingston Cano, a Harpool Middle School student, recounted his past school year with a group of students he and his parents, Sam and Nicole Cano, said brought their bullying to their home, going as far to ring their doorbell on a Saturday night.
“We received a doorbell ditch,” Nicole Cano said. “Our doorbell footage showed five boys in masks. While looking at the footage, they did it again. The third time, my husband was ready to cut them off on their way to do it again. ... We called the coach, he said he would handle it. To my regret, we trusted the school and didn’t call the cops and report it.”
Several of the speakers expressed outrage at the district, saying their students were disciplined in spite of reporting bullying.
Because the statements were made during an open forum and were not on the school board agenda, Denton ISD administrators couldn’t respond to them on Tuesday. Because there were more speakers than usual, the district reduced the typical three minutes allotted per speaker to two minutes. The reduction in the amount of time was met with sounds of frustration.
District officials aren’t permitted to comment on student disciplinary records, which are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. A district spokesperson said a number of statements pertained to reports the district has investigated.
On Wednesday, Superintendent Jamie Wilson said the district takes reports of bullying seriously.
“Our team takes allegations of bullying seriously, and our administrators participate in ongoing training on statutory changes and reporting. This process will continue,” Wilson said in an email. “Also, our teachers, counselors, and administrators have a genuine concern for the well-being of our students, and it is essential that we partner with parents and provide a way for them to seek the assistance they need to keep their students safe.”
The 2023-24 Student Code of Conduct, which complies with the Texas Education Code, mentions bullying at least 31 times, and state lawmakers define bullying as unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Broadly, schools in Texas consider verbal or written threats, aggression and violence as bullying. As schools have adopted digital devices in the classroom, Texas school leaders also consider threats shared by digital messaging platforms and sharing photos intended to humiliate students as bullying. The code of conduct includes cyberbullying as misconduct, and students can be disciplined for bullying others on or off campus.
Denton ISD defines bullying explicitly as threatening and intimidating behavior marked by:
- an imbalance of power between students
- one significant act or a pattern of acts
- premeditation and/or intent to harm the target without remorse
- short- and long-term negative impacts felt by the target
- a requirement for ongoing intervention and support to prevent recurrence
- encouraging suicide, violence against a minor and either threatening to release intimate visual images of a minor or releasing intimate visual images of a minor.
Wilson said the district confronts bullying with a menu of tools. The school’s counseling and social work department works with students to resolve conflicts, and the district uses the STOPit platform so that students can anonymously report bullying and other misconduct.
For students experiencing trauma, anxiety or thoughts of self harm after a reported bullying incident, Denton ISD works with MentalHealthTX, an online behavioral health platform, to locate licensed therapy for students and their families.
