School Board trustees approved Monday night a new district
policy regarding harassment, specifically harassment based on
sexual orientation and gender identity.
School Board trustees approved Monday night a new district policy regarding harassment, specifically harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
”This (policy) resulted from something the court told us we have to do,” Trustee Don Moody said Monday. “But it was mentioned that we will be taking a look at the harassment policy in general … It is important for the public to know and we are going to be giving our attention to that.”
The new policy, 5751 Students: Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Harassment, describes specifically this type of harassment, gives definitions of terms, provides examples of this type of harassment, describes the complaint and investigation process and provides disciplinary procedures.
The policy comes as a result of the settlement agreement in January of a lawsuit filed against the district by former students who said district employees did nothing to stop harassment of them.
Superintendent Carolyn McKennan told trustees Monday night that the agreement requires a specific policy addressing this issue, but she and district staff are aware trustees would like to update the district’s general harassment policy.
The policy passed 5-1, with Trustee Mike Hickey voting against. Trustee Peter Mandel did not attend Monday’s meeting.
Hickey and Moody said they would like to see the district’s harassment policy specify harassment based on religion, race or other perceived differences.
The settlement agreement requires that: “MHUSD policies and student handbooks shall be revised if necessary so that they expressly state in a conspicuous manner that harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender, which includes perceptions of a person’s identity, appearance or behavior, is expressly prohibited under MHUSD policies and state law.”
