Iowa public schools have a new, online tool to report and track bullying incidents in detail as they happen throughout the year.
Until now, the state has relied on one annual set of reports, logged under four labels, to track bullying in schools. That process was prompted in 2007 by a state anti-bullying and anti-harassment law.
For the new database, schools will report bullying based on one or more of 17 student traits explicitly named in state law—including sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, political belief, and various combinations of those factors.
The database will allow districts to track students who are repeatedly bullied or accused of bullying.
