COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 42

February 24, 2006

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Patricia I. Wright Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	Regional Bullying Prevention Workshops

In 2005, the Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation to include bullying prevention as a mandatory component of character education. The[character education] program shall also address the inappropriateness of bullying, as defined in the Student Conduct Policy Guidelines adopted by the Board of Education pursuant to 22.1-279.6.

The Virginia Department of Education, in cooperation with Virginia Commonwealth University, is pleased to announce a series of five regional bullying prevention workshops across the commonwealth during March, April and May. These half-day (8:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m.) workshops will provide the participants with information and resources that will enable them to return to their respective schools and offer their own staff development training on bullying prevention. Each participant will receive free resources, including a presentation kit developed by the Channing-Bete Company entitled Bullying: Prevention and Intervention for School Staff.

The schedule and locations for the workshops are:

• March 23 Omni Hotel, Newport News
• March 29 First Mount Zion Baptist Church, Dumfries
• March 31 Monticello Conference Center, Charlottesville
• April 7 The Institute of Higher Education, Danville
• May 8 Higher Education Center, Abingdon

Virginia Commonwealth Universitys Center for School-Community Collaboration will handle online registration and other logistics. To access the registration information, please visit: www.soe.vcu.edu/csc. Registration for each site is limited to the first 100 participants. Please register early. The registration deadline for each workshop is one week prior to the workshop date.

Questions regarding registration information should be directed to Leslie Smith at (804) 828-1482. Other workshop questions may be directed to Arlene Cundiff, safe and drug-free schools coordinator, at 804-225-2871 or Arlene.Cundiff@doe.virginia.gov.

PIW/ADC/erc