During the Tuesday, December 14, Pine Bush Central School District Board of Education meeting alarmed parents addressed their concerns over social media, bullying and threats made in schools. Superintendent of Schools Tim O. Mains shared that he had also received similar concerns from parents and students prior to the meeting.

“In addition to the parents who spoke tonight, I have been communicating with a wide variety of parents and students who have expressed concerns about the safety of our schools. There’s no question that there’s an uptick in aggressive behavior not just in Pine Bush High School but across the region and across the country. With that said, I’m only concerned about Pine Bush,” said Mains.

“We have been working very hard to get ahead of things that are happening. So any time that there are threats made on social media we involve the police. The police have been very helpful to us in the past few weeks, but the goal of the administrative staff in the schools has been to get ahead of the conflict. Identifying conflict before it spills over into bad behavior and referring those folks who are showing some sort of conflict,” said Mains.

Mains reminded parents that the school board recently approved the hiring of three additional social workers to deal with these matters. In addition, restorative practices or trained mental health workers such as social workers, school psychologists and school counselors in the building are utilized.

“I remember before Covid we had someone come in and talk to parents about how to deal with social media and all the aspects of it. Maybe we need to look into bringing somebody out? And helping parents because I know that in schools right now we are frustrated with the stress that the kids are going through with the social and emotional issues. The parents also have to deal with this and maybe we can look into more supports for the parents as well,” said Pine Bush Board Member Dori Johnson.

Mains assured parents that when issues in the schools arise, disciplinary measures are taken seriously and district officials refer to the Pine Bush Code of Conduct for penalties and consequences. He went on to explain that social media in particular is hard for school districts to control or monitor while in school because districts have little authority over phones due to them being private property. Mains urged parents to continue to work together with the school district to thwart issues and with the support of fellow board members agreed that the district will look into ways to provide additional resources.