Some details in Branstad’s anti-bullying plan still unsettled

DES MOINES - Terry Branstad's recent executive action to create a new state anti-bullying office accomplishes in part what state lawmakers could not.

One key detail remains unresolved, however.

State lawmakers for three consecutive years tried and failed to pass anti-bullying legislation that would aid and empower schools to address bullying incidents.

Branstad, who has made anti-bulling programs a priority since his second stint as governor began in 2011, stopped waiting for legislation to arrive on his desk when he signed an executive order last week creating the Governor's Office for Bullying Prevention. The new office will be operated by the University of Northern Iowa's Center for Violence Prevention.

One of the key sticking points in legislative negotiations was disagreement over whether parents should be notified automatically of any bullying incident, or if exceptions should be allowed if the victim or a school official thinks parental notification would exacerbate the situation.

Advocates for gay and transgender students endorse the provision, which they say could protect a student from further emotional harm.

Branstad's executive order declares in part that the new anti-bullying office will work with the state Department of Education to 'develop a procedure for the prompt notification of parents or guardians of the victims and alleged perpetrators in reported incidents of harassment or bullying.”

It does not contain any language about possible exceptions.

Branstad said Monday at his weekly meeting with reporters that the notification process is a matter of public policy that should be decided by lawmakers.

'We didn't address (an exception for parental notification). That is something I think they'll have to work out in the future,” Branstad said. 'We think this center can make recommendations, but eventually, I think this is a public policy issue that needs to be resolved in a way that can get broad-based, bipartisan support.”

Per the governor's executive order, the anti-bullying office also will make training materials available to schools, promote a website for students who feel bullied or threatened, develop guidelines to promote safety from and response to online bullying and address inconsistencies in how schools report bullying incidents.

Because the office was created without legislative support, it is not funded. Branstad said Monday he thinks that the university's Center for Violence Protection can absorb the cost of establishing the office and that Northern Iowa in its upcoming annual budget request likely will seek additional funding to support the office. He said neither his office nor the center has estimated how much money that will require.

Branstad praised school districts such as Sioux City that already have anti-bullying programs in place and the actions of students such as Cedar Rapids fifth-grader Isaac Taylor, who has raised money to install a 'buddy bench” at his school.

'We want to inform and encourage and support these kinds of activities,” Branstad said. 'We'll look at what can be done, but we're not going to wait for legislation. We're going to continue to move forward.”