Mom urges state to audit school district for "false" bullying numbers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A West Lafayette mom says schools need to tell the truth about bullying, and she’s pushing for the Indiana Department of Education to get involved.

“It seems like there’s no teeth to any policy, no accountability, and that needs to stop,” said Erin Moon-Walker.

Prompted by our reporting, Governor Holcomb signed a law in 2018 .

It allows the Indiana Department of Education to audit schools if a parent suspects the school isn’t being truthful about bullying.

However, IDOE has not performed a single bullying audit in the six years since the law took effect.

PREVIOUS | Governor signs new bullying law after WRTV finds schools misreported

Erin Moon-Walker, a mother who lives in West Lafayette, says that needs to change.

WRTV

“I think the state has run out of excuses for not acting on this,” said Moon-Walker.

Moon-Walker says her daughter was threatened on a Friday and physically assaulted the following Monday in the fall of 2022 at the West Lafayette Junior Senior High School.

WRTV

"The student confronted her in the commons, pursued her across the commons and then grabbed her and threw her down, ripped her backpack,” said Moon-Walker. “She got some bruises. And then one of the student's friends shared it on social media."

Moon-Walker said she considers the incident physical bullying.

“Yes, I do,” said Moon-Walker.

But the West Lafayette Community School Corporation did not.

WRTV

Bullying numbers for the 2022-2023 school year show 0 incidents of physical bullying at the West Lafayette Junior Senior High School.

Schools are required by law to report bullying numbers to the Indiana Department of Education, which then posts them online annually without any identifiable information.

Moon-Walker says the school corporation misreported again the next school year despite her daughter receiving online threats from another student.

“It was threats to assault my child, threats for my child to not report it to the counselor,” said Moon-Walker.

The district listed zeroes for both verbal and electronic bullying during the 2023-2024 school year.

Erin Moon-Walker raised concerns at several school board meetings .

“That data point is false,” said Moon-Walker to the school board. “I don’t think bullying is being adequately reported.”

YouTube/West Lafayette Community School Corporation

The mom found our reporting about bullying and contacted the Indiana Department of Education to request an audit of the district’s bullying numbers.

“Could you please tell me the steps that need to be taken to request an audit be conducted for a specific school or district?” wrote Erin Moon-Walker in a February 16, 2024 email to IDOE’s Ryan Stewart.

Erin Moon-Walker

“I never heard back from them,” said Moon-Walker. “You would think that would be taken really seriously.”

WRTV Investigates found IDOE’s lack of response interesting because IDOE had just denied WRTV’s records request for bullying audit requests.

On June 13, 2024, IDOE’s denial said, “To date, no formal audits have been conducted because no discrepancies have been reported to IDOE.”

WRTV reached out to IDOE.

Brad Forestal

“It appears that the parent’s initial communication was inadvertently missed,” said Courtney Crown, a Senior Media Specialist at IDOE. “Bullying is an issue IDOE takes very seriously. While discipline is managed at the school level, IDOE provides routine training for schools to help improve student safety. This includes information on how to properly identify, document, and report incidents of bullying, as well as bullying prevention measures.”

WRTV Investigates also went to the West Lafayette Community School Corporation administration building and sent an email.

No one was available for an on-camera interview, however, a spokesperson responded via email.

“We are unable to address questions regarding specific students or incidents in order to comply with FERPA and protect student privacy,” read a statement from the school district. “We can confirm that we investigate all allegations of bullying, and we can confirm that we report incidents of substantiated bullying as required annually by the Indiana Department of Education. Additionally we report other disciplinary data about suspensions and expulsions as required by law.”

Erin Moon-Walker is not just a mom, she’s a therapist who helps people with the life-long impacts of bullying.

“Bullying damages a person’s sense of self for years to come,” said Moon-Walker.

She pulled her daughter out of West Lafayette schools, but she is still pursuing an IDOE audit of the district’s bullying numbers.

“We still live in the community and I feel the need to protect the other students in the district,” said Moon-Walker. If this is happening to me and they know how outspoken I am, what is happening to other kids and parents who aren’t?”

After WRTV Investigates started asking questions about Moon-Walker’s case, IDOE sent her a copy of the bullying discrepancy form .

IDOE says bullying discrepancies can be submitted by emailing schoolsafety@doe.in.gov.   There is no penalty in place for school districts who violate the bullying reporting law.   “Should the audit find a discrepancy, the school is able to correct the data and IDOE then publishes the updated data on the department’s website,” read IDOE’s statement to WRTV. “Statute does not provide for punitive actions against the school.”   An audit specifically looks for discrepancies in the bullying data submitted to IDOE by the local school, according to IDOE. For example, IDOE may review to see if the number of locally-documented bullying incidents matches the total number reported via the discipline report at the end of the school year, a spokesperson said via email.

Newly released numbers show schools reported 7,700 bullying incidents last school year, a 41% increase from the year before when 5,460 incidents were reported.

BREAKDOWN OF 7,700 BULLYING INCIDENTS (2023-24)

• 3,284 Verbal
• 2,409 Physical
• 789 Social/Relational
• 596 Electronic/Written
• 622 Combination Incidents

FULL STATEMENT FROM INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:

“After looking into this, it appears that the parent’s initial communication was inadvertently missed. When the parent followed up, information was immediately provided on how to report a suspected discrepancy in the bullying data submitted by a school via the bullying discrepancy reporting form. The information provided through this initial form helps IDOE determine next steps, which can include can audit.For background, under [iga.in.gov] IC 20-33-8-35 [iga.in.gov] , all public and charter schools must document acts of bullying against a victim. An audit specifically looks for discrepancies in the bullying data submitted to IDOE by the local school. For example, IDOE may review to see if the number of locally-documented bullying incidents matches the total number reported via the discipline report at the end of the school year.Should the audit find a discrepancy, the school is able to correct the data and IDOE then publishes the updated data on the department’s website. Statute does not provide for punitive actions against the school.Bullying is an issue IDOE takes very seriously. While discipline is managed at the school level, IDOE provides routine training for schools to help improve student safety. This includes information on how to properly identify, document, and report incidents of bullying, as well as bullying prevention measures.”