‘She feels targeted’: Williamson County Schools address bullying concerns ahead of new school year
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — With school just months away from starting again, the Williamson County school board and parents have been focused on how to handle instances of bullying.
“When I heard him say all that, I went directly to the principals and I was like, just really scared. And I’m still scared to this day to go to that school,” Elaina Reed said during a school board meeting.
New education laws that take effect July 1 in Tennessee
Reed stood between her parents as she spoke about how a classmate of hers called her a racial slur.
“I was scared when he said he was going to shoot up all the Black people,” she said.
Her parents also told board members that an investigation was launched after the incident. While the student accused of making the racial slur was removed from their daughter’s class, they were not expelled.
“She does not feel safe and she feels targeted, so how are we going to keep students safe that look like her?” questioned Reed’s mother.
The conversation centered around bullying has increased over the past several school board meetings, according to the Williamson County Schools’ bullying and harassment report obtained by News 2.
Bullying incidents based on Race/Color:
2021-2022: 33
2022-2023: 53
2023-2024: 118
APRIL 2023: Reports of bullying double in Williamson County this school year
“We are thoughtfully working on improving how we respond,” said superintendent Jason Golden. “Just this year, every one of our principals established a standard for their students at the beginning of the year of what they expected and consequences for behaviors that were threatening to others.”
It’s an effort that Revida Rahman has been keeping up with.
“I think it’s very important,” Rahman said. “I really try to encourage families who have had incidents to speak up because oftentimes when you don’t speak about something happening, nobody knows that it exists.”
Rahman is the co-founder of the non-profit organization One Wilco. The organization works to make sure that schools across the district are safe places for students. One Wilco will also often make sure that school leaders are being held accountable.
Rahman said that she has two children who are in Williamson County Schools and explained that she has been making a constant effort to ensure families know what they can do when bullying or harassment happens.
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“I was really happy to see the WCS app have the stop bullying portion on there,” Rahman said. “It’s funny because when I talked to students and families, they still don’t know this is out there and available. I’m trying to share that it’s an easy way for them to report these incidents,” said Rahman.
The school district has implemented an anti-bullying campaign, allowing students and parents to submit bullying reports online.
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