Each day, our parents and caregivers bring their most precious possessions to our schools – their children.

As a parent with children of my own, and as your superintendent, I hold a deep care and concern for the safety of each of our 23,000 student-scholars.

School districts, such as Federal Way Public Schools, have recently been featured in the media for actions taken in cases of harassment, intimidation or bullying. Some have asked how our district is responding in specific cases, given limited information referenced in the media.

What some may not understand is that, as a district, we have a very limited ability to respond to the specifics of any given bullying concern or case due to confidentiality. This can make it appear as if the district has not responded when we have. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires us to maintain this confidentiality and to protect the privacy of all parties involved.

I want to share with you our commitment – myself and 3,000 staff members – to ensure safe schools for each of our scholars. This is a responsibility we take very seriously.

We have caring, competent teachers, support staff, and administrators, as well as clear and effective policies and procedures in place to address harassment, intimidation or bullying. With over 23,000 young people at various stages of growth and development, incidents involving conflict and challenges are unavoidable. However, when these incidents do arise, we are committed to being responsive as we foster a safe and welcoming learning environment for all students, free from harassment, intimidation or bullying.

While confidentiality is being maintained, there are many things we are doing at the school and district level to respond to bullying concerns. In our Strategic Plan, one of our five goals is Goal Two: Whole Child: Thriving, Confident, Responsible Individuals, which focuses on ensuring each of our scholars feels school is safe and welcoming. With the adoption of Goal Two, we have a comprehensive plan for ongoing staff training to teach our students:

• appropriate school behaviors;

• multiple options for solving problems;

• how to treat each other with respect and kindness;

• how to build relationships with staff and fellow scholars; and

• how to implement restorative practices that provide opportunity for scholars to repair harm with each other.

Additionally, each school administrator provides education and training on the process for assisting scholars and families that report bullying. Our district personnel assists staff with on-going support on the steps for reporting an incident at the school level and to district administration. Our goal is to prevent bullying and provide our scholars with intentional teaching that helps build their own personal toolkit for self-management and demonstrating empathy to others.

We know the difference a caring adult can make to a student-scholar in need. We heard from our parents and community members last year, who asked how they could get involved and make a difference in our schools and community. One important way supported by research is mentoring. We are encouraging our community to sign up to be mentors to our student-scholars, through our new in-house mentoring program, called “The Mentor and Me.” Our goal is to increase the number of mentors we have district-wide by 150 mentors. These additional mentors will complement the strong Communities in Schools mentoring program already in place in many of our schools. As the seventh largest district in the state, we simply need more mentors. We are committed to proactively supporting our scholars so they make the kind of choices that ensure their success academically and in life.

We will continue to make our students’ safety a top priority. We will nurture a safe place for them by responding promptly to issues of bullying and focusing on establishing positive school climates in our schools. If a parent has a harassment, intimidation, or bullying concern, please reach out to your school administrator.

For more information or to apply to be a mentor, visit www.fwps.org or call 253-945-2015.

Dr. Tammy Campbell is the superintendent of Federal Way Public Schools.