School board members assured the parents of a student who has been bullied since last year that the bullying would be stopped, at their regular meeting on September 10.

“Our child has been bullied bad since last year, by the same student,” parents of a Macon County Junior High student told board members. “Mr. Bransford, the principal, has tried to take care of the matter, but he’s been overruled time and again.”

The problem started last year when, after the first incident of bullying, when both students got into trouble. The bully, a Macon County school teacher’s child, was dismissed of her punishment; and since the bully was “let off” so was the victim.

The bullying continued through last year, said the parents of the victim, and started this year even before school was in session.

Assigned again to BI for this year’s incident, the bully’s teacher-parent had come and taken the student out of the BI class that Bransford had assigned.

Bransford affirmed that a previous school director had called him and said that the bully had “time served”.

“When I get overruled, my hands are tied,” said Bransford. “This should have been over and done with the first time it happened last year.”

“We don’t know what to do,” said the victim’s parents. “Our child is afraid to go to school, afraid to go to the bathroom. Is this right?”

“This won’t continue!” said board member Jimmy Cook. “There are state and federal laws against bullying and we WILL take care of this. You did the right thing by coming to the school board.

“Mr. Bransford, if this continues, the bully needs to be expelled, plain and simple.”

Director Dan Hampton, too, gave the parents his word that he would take care of the matter.

Changes made to existing School Board policies on Nepotism on Nepotism and Board Meetings were passed on first reading, by unanimous vote, but won’t become final until after a second reading in October.

Changes to the Nepotism Policy dealt with the supervision of immediate family members, which will not be allowed after the policy passes on second reading.

“We want our people to come back here to the system and work,” said Hampton. “But we don’t want immediate family members to work in the direct supervisory or evaluation chain of another immediate family member. That makes it hard on the young people, especially.”

Hampton explained later in the week that the peers of employees who may be directly supervised by a family member would always think that the employee got preferential treatment, whether they were or not.

Significant changes to the Board Meeting policy included guidelines for removal from the Board Room due to disorderly behavior or unlawful interference with the course of the meeting; the prohibition of signs, placards, posters, packages, bundles, suitcases or other large objects; the distribution of literature during the meeting (can’t be done, without prior board consent); and the silencing of cell phones while the board is in session.

Other guidelines added to the official policy have long since been observed, but not written into policy.

In other business, the board:

•passed the consent agenda, which included leave requests, waivers, and school trip requests.

•authorized the posting of a new keyboarding position at Macon County High School.

•approved a trip for Pre-K teachers to attend a national conference in Washington November 18-21

•approved textbook certification of compliance, Office 2007 Textbook, the 09-10 school year extended contract, the textbook committee for English and foreign language, and a special education pre-school addendum,

•authorized bids for the purchase of one new school bus.

•approved transportation to Red Boiling Springs for 4th grade students to participate in Project Wet on September 18.

•approved school fees for the school year.

A Work Session was set by the board for September 28. The next regular board meeting will be held on October 8 at 6 p.m. at the Board of Education building.