A violent incident at Morse High School has prompted the San Diego Unified School Board to review its bullying policy after NBC 7 reported on the issue.
Members decided Tuesday night to accelerate plans for a new Office of Youth Advocacy, which is designed ot help streamline safety efforts for students.
Cellphone video sent to NBC 7 last month shows a Morse High student repeatedly punching a freshman in the face during lunch. When the victim tries to run away, the student chases him and pummels him to the ground.
“The child was horribly attacked because he’s gay, and that’s unacceptable,” said school board member Kevin Beiser.
While the altercation remains under investigation, the story about what happened is being described as a catalyst for Tuesday night’s discussion.
The school board asked for an update from the superintendent on the district’s policy to prevent bullying, harassment and intimidation. The school safe task force developed the policy four years ago, but it has been a work in progress.
“Certainly the incident at Morse led to a sense of urgency to really get a handle on what are we doing? What’s left to be done?” said school board member Richard Barrera. “What barriers are there, if any, to go forward and really make our schools the kind of safe environments that we need them to be for all our kids?”
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Beiser said this type of violence cannot be tolerated at any school in the district. He vowed to take a closer look at it to see how they can prevent things like this from happening in the future.
They hope the Office of Youth Advocacy will allow them to be more systemic about the work done to address bullying.
"You don't raise the achievement gap when students are afraid," said SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten.
The family of the freshman victim has filed a claim against the school district over the alleged bullying.
The student in the video was arrested a few days after the incident, and he has been suspended for an indefinite period.
