As part of its response to public criticism of excessive bullying issues within the Shelbyville Central Schools system, the school board commissioned a summer survey of all the stakeholders in the community.

Organized by Dr. Bradley Balch of Indiana State University, the 7-minute survey was administered beginning in June and running through September. On Wednesday at the Shelbyville Central Schools board work session prior to its monthly meeting, Dr. Balch presented an executive summary of the findings.

The board members and SCS administration received the survey results earlier in the day.

“We got it today at 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. It was enough time to review it but not really to digest it,” said SCS board president Curt Johnson after the board meeting.

A total of 483 surveys were recorded, according to Dr. Balch (photo, at podium). The most responses came from parents (285) and students (102). Certified staff provided another 89 surveys.

The following are points the survey provided:

• Eighty-eight percent responded positively regarding the overall safety of the school district
• Ninety-two percent responded positively regarding the overall safety of the extracurricular or co-curricular activities
• From student questions, 76% responded they had observed someone being bullied
• 50% of students responded they have been bullied at school
• In terms of missing school because a respondent felt unsafe, 56% responded never. For those reporting missing school, 35% reported one or two times per month, and 9% reported one of two times per week
• When students were asked what adults could do better to stop bullying, 33% responded with supervise the school better
• When students were asked if they’ve ever carried a weapon to school, 98% responded “no.” However, 1% indicated they do so one to two times per month and 1% responded they do so one or two times per week
• When students were asked if they knew how to report bullying on the Stop-It app used by SCS, 54% indicated “yes,” 34% indicated “no,” and 12% indicated “maybe.”
• When parents/guardians were asked if their child had shared being bullied, 59% indicated “yes,” 40% indicated “no,” and 1% “didn’t know.”

Dr. Balch noted that the term “bullied” was not defined for the respondents.

There are more detailed breakdowns of the responses for each SCS school within the survey presented to the school board and administration. Wednesday’s work session was just an overview of the results.

“The best take away from the meeting tonight, which I had not considered, was the possibility of giving the survey again,” said Johnson. “Because we have already implemented some changes to try and address the concerns. We have to find a way to assess the data we got tonight and see how we can incorporate it in an actionable way.”

As part of the survey, an open-ended question was asked of parents and guardians to offer suggestions for improvement.

Some of the feedback included:

• There is a general perception that bullying is ignored and not acted upon
• There is a desire for more cameras in blind spots
• A desire for a greater focus on student mental health and wellness
• A desire for improved communication within the schools and with parents
• A desire for a greater school resource officer (SRO) presence in all buildings
• A concern that phone usage during class time is problematic

“What we’re really trying to do is exactly what we said we were going to do,” said Johnson. “We told people we were going to pursue this. We’ve instituted some new changes already. We’re looking at the depth of the problem and seeing what we can incorporate from that.”

The school board held a public meeting in the second semester of the 2022-2023 school year to hear from parents and guardians about the perception bullying is negatively affecting students, especially at Shelbyville Middle School. That meeting was well attended.

On Tuesday, only two members of the public attended the work session that was advertised through local media and social media avenues.

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