CBE review finds bullying 'rare' in schools in study that spoke to no students or parents

Bullying report falls short Watch: A report on bullying in Calgary Board of Education schools has been released. Jordan Kanygin reports.

CALGARY – An independent review into bullying within Calgary Board of Education schools concludes it's a rare occurence, but it also acknowledges work needs to be done to update communication and bullying-related policies.

Dr. Kent Donlevy, an associate professor at the University of Calgary's Werklund School of education, authored the review and found the CBE's regulations and practises to address bullying are "fundamentally sound."

More than 150 CBE employees, support staff and administrators took part in the review.

Students and parents, however, were not part of the three-month review.

"This is, as I say, a narrow review. I did not look at individual cases of bullying. That was not my mandate," Donlevy said Wednesday. "Nor did I speak to parents or students because of time."

The conclusion that bullying, as defined by the Education Act, is rare in CBE schools was arrived at only through the conversations with CBE staff.

The school does not keep track of incidents of bullying.

"There are no stats," Donlevy said.

Though specific bullying cases were not reviewed, the investigation was launched just months after a nine-year-old Calgary girl died by suicide. The parents of Amal Alshteiwi said the girl took her own life in March after being bullied in school for weeks.

Alshteiwi's parents declined to comment on the findings of the CBE review, but those close to them said they're disappointed by its conclusions.

"The family is really sad and I have to say, angry," said Sam Nammoura, who is the co-founder of the Calgary Immigrant Support Society and has helped the family deal with the loss of their daughter.

"They feel like this report didn't do any justice for them or the cause," he added. "I don't want them to shy away from the truth. If you cannot even agree that we have a problem, how are we going to find a solution for it?" Nammoura said.

The review included mention of complaints from CBE staff that there is insufficient training and support when it comes to dealing with bullying.

"We have to do a better job in ensuring that we have a common understanding and clarity when we speak with staff, when we speak with parents around what our common understanding is of bullying," said Christopher Usih, the chief superintendent of the CBE

The school board says new bullying-related policies are in place including: