Marshalltown Times-Republican Publisher Mike Schlesinger with Marshall County Sheriff Ted G. Kamatchus.
The local Not In Our Town group in Marshalltown, IA offers its help on a piece of legislation that will strengthen anti-bullying policies and provide training on bullying prevention statewide.
The legislation, House Study Bill 525, is currently circulating in the House Education Committee and relates to state and school anti-harassment policies and professional conduct and ethics for school personnel. Not In Our Town Marshalltown chair Mike Schlesinger, also the publisher of the Marshalltown Times-Republican, offered the group’s input to the representatives tasked to the bill.
Not In Our Town Marshalltown formed in 2012 and has been a proactive organizer of anti-bullying awareness events in the town of nearly 30,000. They have brought Rachel’s Challenge—the nonprofit started by the family of the first student shot at Columbine–to Marshalltown to put on school assemblies, have aired several anti-bullying films free for the public, and have sponsored authors and plays with anti-hate messages. The group also held a community rally, during which they gathered more than 2,500 signatures pledging to stand up to bullying in their community. See how Marshalltown stood up to bullying in this short Not In Our School film.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who has received support from at least one Community School Superintendent, initially proposed the legislation. Gov. Branstad announced a plan called the “Bully Free Iowa Act of 2014” in a public address earlier this year.
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