District 49 board debates changes to bullying policy, keeps restorative-practices preference while adding statutory flexibility

The El Paso County Colorado School District 49 board spent the bulk of its work session reviewing proposed revisions to policy JICDE (bullying prevention and restorative interventions), engaging a detailed, line-by-line debate about definitions, parental notification, the role of restorative practices and what belongs in policy versus administrative regulation.

Director Schmidt framed several changes as clarification rather than removal of restorative approaches and warned that some restorative methods — notably "pure mediation" — are discouraged for bullying by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). "CDE says that research indicates that this type of peer mediation may even increase rates of bullying," Schmidt said. Superintendent Hills and other administrators countered that the CDE guidance cautions against "pure mediation" specifically and does not prohibit restorative practices; Hills said restorative approaches had helped reduce exclusionary discipline in the district.

The board reached several procedural decisions: keep policy-level commitments succinct (for example, a statement to "promote a consistency of approach"), move implementation and investigative procedures into an administrative regulation (a "dash R") to avoid an overly prescriptive policy, and adopt the phrasing "notify parents and invite their support" where parental engagement is referenced. Administrators said the district already uses a public restorative-discipline matrix to calibrate responses and agreed to share that matrix with board members for review.

On several contested lines — including what enumerated examples of bullying to retain and whether to publish a comprehensive program in policy — the board favored preserving clarity for parents and administrators while placing operational details in a regulation. Directors split at times on how strongly the policy should compel restorative practices versus recognizing statutory flexibility, but the final direction was to retain a clear preference for restorative methods while acknowledging that other statutorily allowed approaches may be used when appropriate.

The board directed staff to prepare revised text reflecting the consensus edits and to return the revised policy and accompanying regulation for formal action at a later meeting.