EPISD Safe Schools

El Paso Independent School District (El Paso ISD) has noticed an increase in the number of students reporting episodes of bullying. With limited resources, the departments of Counseling & Advising and Student and Parent Services are not able to provide the support/guidance that campuses and students need. As a result, students have been coping with the trauma from bullying which has affected their performance in school.  In some cases, bullying has increased the number of students joining gangs leading them to bully others as a way to cope, some have isolated themselves from peers and family, and other have had thoughts and/or acts of suicide. To ensure El Paso ISD provides its students a quality education in a suitable and safe environment, the district will establish a district-level Bullying Prevention Committee. The committee will have certified staff to provide on-going bullying prevention throughout the five geographical areas of the district: East, Central, Southside, Northeast and Westside. Additionally, through Senate Bill 2050, the district-level committee will assist all eighty campuses in establishing their own Bullying Prevention Committee. Each committee will adopt a bullying prevention curriculum that will be embedded into the students’ daily instruction. Students that continue to bully will be assigned to complete anti-bullying learning modules. By the end of the program, El Paso ISD will have adopted a comprehensive bullying prevention approach that will create a long-term change that creates a safe and positive school climate (Olweus, 2021).