EDITORIAL: Schools gain new tool to ensure punishment fits the crime

It doesn’t make sense to punish the victim. A new law means that’s less likely to happen in Nevada schools.

Discipline problems remain a major concern in the Clark County School District. Along with violence, bullying is pervasive in many schools. In the 2023-24 school year, the district had around 10,000 reported cases of bullying and nearly 2,000 instances of cyberbullying.

Bullying is a broad term, of course, and the definition continues to grow. But bullying in the social media era can go well beyond a playground rite of passage that was common back in the day. With our ubiquitous electronic devices, it can even extend outside the school building. In some cases, cyberbullying may feel worse than in-person intimidation. With a few clicks, a bully can post or send an embarrassing video or inappropriate pictures to an entire school.

Before this legislative session, state law allowed a bullied student to transfer schools to escape the tormentor. That’s an important option. Sometimes a victim may feel like he or she would be better off with a fresh start. But in other cases, it may seem like the only way to escape. In such cases, the student is made to suffer because the district isn’t able to transfer the perpetrator.

“The bad guy gets to stay and the person who is a victim needs to leave, and that needs to change,” Mary Pierczynski, a lobbyist for the Nevada Association of School Superintendents, said in April while testifying at the Legislature.

Assembly Bill 48 was the district’s proposal to fix this injustice. The bill, which Gov. Joe Lombardo signed last month, allows school districts to move bullies to a new campus. The victim may also switch schools. If both students are moved, the perpetrator can’t be placed in the victim’s new location.

Sen. Carrie Buck, R-Henderson, shared a situation in which girls at a school had been sexually harassed. They ended up leaving their school. If this bill had been in place, they could have remained while the culprit transferred.

Despite the bill’s progress, there remains an obvious concern. A bully who is forcibly transferred may simply find new victims to harass. And that’s where the district and school officials need to draw the line. If a bully continues his or her destructive behavior at a new campus, school district officials must immediately consider other options including online schooling or expulsion.

This new law should remind district officials to prioritize students who are doing the right things, not constantly cater to the troublemakers.