The Morgan Hill School Board has taken the next step in the
process of bringing anti-harassment training, specifically
harassment over sexual orientation or perceived orientation, to the
school district in selecting trainers for the training.
The Morgan Hill School Board has taken the next step in the process of bringing anti-harassment training, specifically harassment over sexual orientation or perceived orientation, to the school district in selecting trainers for the training.
Trustees approved a recommendation by a district committee to hire Kanwarpal Dhaliwal and Carolyn Laub of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. Assistant Superintendent Denise Tate in charge of human resources, said the contract needs to be signed, but it is likely that will happen.
To select trainers that would be acceptable to both the district and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which assisted the plaintiffs in the Flores et al vs MHUSD lawsuit alleging the district did not do enough to prevent harassment of several district students because of their alleged sexual orientation, the district convened a committee.
“Many board members recommended committee members,” Tate said. “The committee included parents, representatives of the employee groups and board members … The committee spent an entire day interviewing trainers.”
Superintendent Carolyn McKennan told trustees that the commitment made by the district to hold public forums would be honored, with forums in the fall before the training for seventh and ninth grade students begins.
According to the settlement agreement with the plaintiffs and the ACLU, the district will provide a 50-minute training period once a year to district seventh and ninth grade students.
The settlement requires the training continue for three years.
District administrators and classified personnel must also undergo training, according to the agreement. Plans are for administrators to begin their training sometime in June after the close of school June 11.
The curriculum for the training will be developed by the trainers and a committee. This committee has not yet been convened, Tate said.
“We need to look at the curriculum before we go to the larger community,” she said. “We need to know what we are looking at to correctly answer the questions of the community.”
Tate told trustees that she had spoken with the pastor of the United Methodist Church, and there will be “more formal monthly meetings of all pastors” at which training issues could be discussed.
District officials have emphasized that the training for students will not be sexual education or be sexually explicit but will focus on harassment.
Trustee Shellé Thomas said she wanted the public to be clear that the money for the training will not come from the district’s operating budget but from money received in the settlement.
The money comes out of the Joint Powers Authority, a self-insuring agency made up of several school districts. The settlement amount was $1.1 million, with the plaintiffs dividing up $560,000.
“The $100,000 we received from insurance will cover years one and two of the training,” Tate said. “I don’t believe there will be sufficient funds for the third year.”
Although the trainers will charge a $100/hour rate, the total estimated budget through 2007 is $36,770, leaving less than $74,000 to pay for release time for teachers and work out something for bus drivers to bring them in for training on a non-school day.
Tate said plans have not been finalized.
