Policy No.
1300/5002/4010
Community Relations
Personnel - All
Employees (& Students)
Anti-discrimination,
Anti-harassment, and Anti-retaliation
A. Elimination
of Discrimination.
The
Ashland-Greenwood
Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or
ethnic origin, sex, disability, religion, veteran status, marital status,
pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, age or other protected
status in
admission or access to, or treatment with regard to employment or with regard
to its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and
other designated groups. Reasonable
accommodations will be provided to employees with disabilities and to those who
are pregnant, have given birth, or have a related medical condition, as
required by law.
The
following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the
non-discrimination policies:
Students: Building Principals,
Employees and Others: Building Principals,
The Superintendent or
his or her designee shall be the Coordinator for anti-discrimination laws
(including Title VI, Title IX; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)) .
Complaints
or concerns involving discrimination or needs for accommodation or access
should be addressed to the appropriate Coordinator. For further information
about anti-discrimination laws and regulations, or to file a complaint of
discrimination with the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of
Education (OCR), please contact the OCR at 601 East 12th Street,
Room 353, Kansas City, MO 64106, (800)
368-1019 (voice), Fax (816) 426-3686, (800) 537-7697 (telecommunications device
for the deaf), or ocr.kansascity@ed.gov.
B. Prohibited
Harassment, Discrimination, and
Retaliation of Employees, Students and Others.
1.
Purpose:
The
Harassment is a form of discrimination and includes
verbal, non-verbal, written, graphic, or physical conduct relating to a person's race,
color, national origin, religion, disability, age, sex, or other protected
category, that is sufficiently serious to deny, interfere with, or limit a
person's ability to participate in or benefit from an educational or work
program or activity, including, but not limited to:
a.
Conduct that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to
create an intimidating, hostile, or abusive educational or work environment, or
b.
Requiring an individual to endure the offensive
conduct as a condition of continued employment or educational programs or
activities, including the receipt of aids, benefits, and services.
Educational programs and activities include all
academic, educational, extracurricular, athletic, and other programs of the school, whether those programs take place in a school's
facilities, on a school bus, at a class or training program sponsored by the
school at another location, or elsewhere.
Discriminatory harassment because of a person's
race, color, national origin, religion, disability, age, sex, or other
protected category, may include, but is not limited to:
a.
Name-calling,
b.
Teasing or taunting,
c.
Insults, slurs, or derogatory names or remarks,
d.
Demeaning jokes,
e.
Inappropriate gestures,
f.
Graffiti or inappropriate written or electronic
material,
g.
Visual displays, such as cartoons, posters, or
electronic images,
h.
Threats or intimidating or hostile conduct,
i.
Physical acts of aggression, assault, or violence,
or
j.
Criminal offenses
The following examples are additional or more
specific examples of conduct that may constitute sexual harassment:
a.
Unwelcome
sexual advances or propositions,
b.
Requests or pressure for sexual favors,
c.
Comments about an individual’s body, sexual
activity, or sexual attractiveness,
d.
Physical contact or touching of a sexual nature, including
touching intimate body parts and inappropriate patting, pinching, rubbing, or
brushing against another's body,
e.
Physical sexual acts of aggression, assault, or
violence, including criminal offenses (such as rape, sexual assault or battery,
and sexually motivated stalking), against a person’s will or where a person is
incapable of giving consent due to the victim’s age, intellectual disability,
or use of drugs or alcohol,
f.
Requiring sexual favors or contact in exchange for
aids, benefits, or services, such as grades, awards, privileges, promotions, etc., or
g.
Gender-based harassment; acts of verbal, nonverbal,
written, graphic, or physical conduct based on sex or sex-stereotyping, but not
involving conduct of a sexual nature.
If the District knows or reasonably should know
about possible harassment, including violence, the District will conduct a
prompt, adequate, reliable, thorough, and impartial investigation to determine
whether unlawful harassment occurred (see section entitled “Grievance Procedures,” below), and take appropriate interim
measures, if necessary. If the District determines that unlawful harassment
occurred, the District will take prompt and effective action to eliminate the
harassment, prevent its recurrence, and remedy its effects, if appropriate. If
harassment or violence that occurs off school property creates a hostile
environment at school, the District will follow this policy and grievance
procedure, within the scope of its authority.
All District employees are expected to take prompt
and appropriate actions to report and prevent discrimination, harassment, and
retaliation by others. Employees who witness or become aware of possible
discrimination, including harassment and retaliation, must immediately report the conduct to his or her supervisor
or the compliance coordinator designated to handle complaints of discrimination
(designated compliance coordinator).
2. Anti-retaliation:
The
District prohibits retaliation,
intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination against any person for
opposing discrimination, including harassment, or for participating in the
District's discrimination complaint process or making a complaint, testifying,
assisting, or participating in any manner, in an investigation, proceeding, or
hearing. Retaliation is a form of discrimination.
The District will take immediate steps to stop
retaliation and prevent its recurrence against the alleged victim and any
person associated with the alleged victim. These steps will include, but are
not limited to, notifying students, employees, and others, that they are
protected from retaliation, ensuring that they know how to report future
complaints, and initiating follow-up contact with the complainant to determine
if any additional acts of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation have
occurred. If retaliation occurs, the District will take prompt and strong
responsive action, including possible discipline, including expulsion or
termination, if applicable.
3. Grievance (or Complaint) Procedures:
Employees
or students should initially report all instances of discrimination, harassment
or retaliation to their immediate supervisor or teacher or to the compliance
coordinator designated to handle complaints of discrimination (designated
coordinator). If the employee or student
is uncomfortable in presenting the problem to the supervisor or teacher, or if
the supervisor or teacher is the problem, the employee or student may report
the alleged discrimination, harassment or retaliation (“discrimination”) to the
designated coordinator, or in the case of students, to another staff person
(such as a counselor or principal).
Other individuals may report alleged discrimination
to the designated coordinator. If the designated coordinator is the person
alleged to have committed the discriminatory act, then the complaint should be
submitted to the Superintendent for assignment. A discrimination complaint form
is attached to this grievance procedure and is available in the office of each
District building, on the District's website, and from the designated
coordinators.
District employees, supervisors and administrators
must immediately report any complaints, reports, observations, or other information
of alleged discrimination to the designated coordinator, even if that District
employee is investigating the alleged discrimination as part of the District's
student or employee disciplinary process, and provide the complainant with
information for filing a complaint of discrimination, including a complaint
form if requested, and contact information for the District's designated
coordinator. If the District uses its
disciplinary procedures to investigate and resolve an alleged discrimination
complaint, those disciplinary procedures will comply with the District's
standards for a prompt and equitable grievance procedure outlined in section
B.2., below.
Under no circumstances will a person filing a
complaint or grievance involving discrimination be retaliated against for
filing the complaint or grievance.
i.
Level 1 (Investigation and Findings):
Once the District receives a grievance, complaint
or report alleging discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, or becomes aware
of possible discriminatory conduct, the District will conduct a prompt,
adequate, reliable, thorough, and impartial investigation to determine whether
unlawful harassment occurred. If necessary, the District will take immediate,
interim action or measures to protect the alleged victim and prevent further
potential discrimination, harassment, or retaliation during the pending
investigation. The alleged victim will be notified of his or her options to
avoid contact with the alleged harasser, such as changing a class or
prohibiting the alleged harasser from having any contact with the alleged
victim pending the result of the District’s investigation. The District will
minimize any burden on the alleged victim when taking interim measures to
protect the alleged victim.
The District will investigate all complaints of
discrimination, even if an outside entity or law enforcement agency is
investigating a complaint involving the same facts and allegations. The
District will not wait for the conclusion or outcome of a criminal
investigation or proceeding to begin an investigation required by this grievance procedure. If the
allegation(s) involve possible criminal conduct, the District will notify the
complainant of his or her right to file a criminal complaint, and District
employees will not dissuade the complainant from filing a criminal complaint
either during or after the District’s investigation.
The District will complete
its investigation within ten (10) working days after
receiving a complaint or report, unless extenuating circumstances exist.
Extenuating circumstances may include the unavailability of witnesses due to
illness or incapacitation, or additional time needed because of the complexity
if the investigation, the need for outside experts to evaluate the evidence
(such as forensic evidence), or multiple complainants or victims. Extenuating
circumstances do not include summer vacation, and if a designated compliance
coordinator or investigator is unavailable, another coordinator or trained
employee will be designated to conduct the investigation. If extenuating
circumstances exist, the extended timeframe to complete the investigation will not
exceed ten (10) additional working days without the consent of the complainant. Periodic status updates will be given to
the parties, if necessary.
The District’s investigation will include, but is
not limited to:
a.
Providing the parties with the opportunity to
present witnesses and provide evidence.
b.
An evaluation of all relevant information and
documentation relating to the alleged discriminatory conduct.
c.
For allegations involving harassment, some of the
factors the District will consider include:
1) the nature of the conduct and whether the conduct was unwelcome, 2) the surrounding circumstances, expectations,
and relationships, 3) the
degree to which the conduct affected one or more students' education, 4)
the type, frequency, and duration of
the conduct, 5) the identity of
and relationship between the alleged harasser and the suspect or suspects of the harassment, 6) the number of
individuals involved, 7) the
age (and sex, if applicable) of the alleged harasser and the alleged victim(s)
of the harassment, 8) the
location of the incidents and the context in which they occurred, 9) the totality of the circumstances, and 10)
other relevant evidence.
d.
A review of the evidence using a “preponderance of
the evidence” standard (based on the evidence, is it more likely than not that
discrimination, harassment, or retaliation occurred?)
The designated compliance coordinator (or
designated investigator) will complete an investigative report, which will
include:
a.
A summary of the facts,
b.
An analysis of the appropriate legal standards
applied to the specific facts,
c.
Findings regarding whether discrimination occurred,
and
d.
If a finding is made that discrimination occurred,
the recommended remedy or remedies necessary to eliminate discrimination,
including harassment and retaliation, prevent its recurrence, and remedy its
effects, if applicable.
If someone other than the designated compliance
coordinator conducted the investigation, the compliance coordinator will
review, approve, and sign the investigative report. The District will ensure
that prompt, appropriate, and effective remedies are provided if a finding of
discrimination, harassment, or retaliation is made (see the Remedies section,
below, for additional information about remedies). The District will maintain
relevant documentation obtained during the investigation and documentation
supportive of the findings and any subsequent determinations, including the
investigative report, witness statements, interview summaries, and any
transcripts or audio recordings, pertaining to the investigative and appeal
proceedings.
The District will send concurrently to the parties
written notification of the decision (findings and any remedy) regarding the
complaint within ten (10) working days after the investigation is
completed. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 11232g; 34 C.F.R. Part 99,
permits the District to disclose to a
student who was discriminated against or harassed (victim), information about
the sanction imposed upon a student who was found to have engaged in
discrimination or harassment (student who discriminated) when the sanction
directly relates to the victim. This includes an order that the student who
discriminated stay away from the victim, or that the student who discriminated
is prohibited from attending school for a period of time, or transferred to
other classes.
ii.
Level 2 (Appeal to the Superintendent):
If
a party is not satisfied with the findings or remedies (or both) set forth in
the decision, he or she may file an appeal in writing with the Superintendent
within ten (10) working days after receiving the decision. The
Superintendent will review the appeal and the investigative documentation and
decision, conduct additional investigation, if necessary, and issue a written determination about the appeal within
ten (10) working days after receiving the appeal. The party who filed the
appeal will be sent the Superintendent’s determination at the time it is
issued, and a copy will be sent to the designated compliance coordinator. [If
the Superintendent is the subject of the complaint, the party will file the
appeal directly with the Board.]
iii. Level 3 (Appeal to the Board):
If the party is not satisfied with the
Superintendent’s determination, he or she may file an appeal in writing with
the Board of Education within ten (10) working days after receiving the
Superintendent’s determination. The Board of Education will review the appeal,
the Superintendent’s determination, the investigative documentation and
decision, and allow the party to address the Board at the next scheduled Board
meeting to present his or her appeal. The Board will issue a written
determination about the appeal within thirty (30) working days after
receiving the appeal. The party who filed the appeal will be sent the Board’s
determination at the time it is issued, and a copy will be sent to the
designated compliance coordinator. The Board’s determination, and any actions
taken, will be final on behalf of the District.
4. Remedies:
If the District knows or reasonably should know
about possible discrimination, including harassment or violence, the District
will take immediate, interim action or measures to protect the alleged victim,
ensure the safety of the school community, and prevent further potential
discrimination, harassment, or retaliation during the District’s pending
investigation. These interim measures will be prompt, age-appropriate,
effective, and tailored to the specific situation, and may include a change in
the student's seating assignment or class, a change in an employee's work area,
prohibiting the alleged harasser from having any contact with the alleged
victim pending the result of the District’s investigation, and other remedies,
such as those listed below.
The District will minimize any burden on the
alleged victim when taking interim measures. For instance, the District
generally will not remove the alleged victim from his or her class or work area
and allow the alleged harasser to remain. In addition the District will ensure
that the complainant is aware of his or her Title IX rights, including a strong
prohibition against retaliation for reporting discrimination or harassment or
cooperating with any investigation or proceeding, and any available resources,
such as counseling, health, and mental health services, and the right to file a
complaint with local law enforcement, if applicable.
If the District determines that unlawful
discrimination or harassment occurred, the District will take prompt and
effective action to
eliminate the discrimination or harassment, prevent its recurrence, and remedy
its effects on the complainant and others,
if appropriate. The remedies will be tailored to
the specific allegations and facts of each situation,
including, but not limited to, the following remedies:
a.
Providing an escort to ensure the complainant can
move safely between classes and activities.
b.
Ensuring the complainant and alleged harasser do
not attend the same classes.
c.
Moving the alleged harasser to another school or
work area within the District.
d.
Providing counseling services or reimbursement, if
appropriate.
e.
Providing medical services or reimbursement, if
appropriate.
f.
Providing academic support services, such as tutoring.
g.
Arranging for the complainant to re-take a course
or withdraw from a class without penalty,
including ensuring that any changes do not
adversely affect the complainant’s academic record.
The District may provide remedies for the broader
student population as well, including but not limited to:
a.
Offering counseling, health,
mental health,
or other holistic and comprehensive victim services
to all students or employees affected by sexual harassment or sexual violence,
and notifying students and employees of campus and community counseling,
health, mental health, and other student services.
b.
Designating an individual from the District's
counseling center to be “on call” to assist victims of sexual harassment or violence whenever
needed.
c.
Providing additional training to the District's
designated compliance coordinators and other employees who are involved in
addressing, investigating, or resolving complaints of discrimination,
harassment, and retaliation, to better respond to specific types of harassment
and violence.
d.
Informing students and employees of their options
to notify proper law enforcement authorities, including school and local
police, and the option to be assisted by District employees in notifying those
authorities.
e.
Creating a committee of students or employees and
District officials to identify strategies for ensuring that students and
employees:
i.
Know the school's prohibition against
discrimination, harassment, and
retaliation.
ii.
Recognize acts of discrimination, harassment
(including acts of violence), and retaliation when they occur.
iii.
Understand how and to whom to report any incidents
of discrimination.
iv.
Know the connection between alcohol and drug abuse
and harassment or violence based on sex or other protected characteristics.
v.
Feel comfortable that District officials will
respond promptly and equitably to reports of discrimination, harassment
(including violence) and retaliation.
f.
Conducting periodic assessments of student or
employee activities to ensure that the practices and behavior of students or
employees do not violate the District’s policies against anti-discrimination,
anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation.
g.
Conducting in conjunction with students or employees, a “climate check” to assess the effectiveness of efforts to
ensure that the District is free from discrimination, harassment (including violence), and retaliation, and
using the resulting information to inform future proactive steps that will be
taken by the District.
In addition to these remedies, the District may
impose disciplinary sanctions against the student or employee who
discriminated, harassed, or retaliated against the complainant, up to and
including possible expulsion or termination or cancellation of employment.
5. Confidentiality:
The identity of the complainant will be kept
confidential to the extent permitted by state and federal law. The District will notify the complainant of
the anti-retaliation provisions of applicable laws and that the District will
take steps to prevent retaliation and will take prompt and strong responsive
actions if retaliation occurs.
If a complainant requests confidentiality or asks
that the complaint not be pursued, the District will take all reasonable steps
to investigate and respond to the complaint consistent with the request for
confidentiality or the request not to pursue an investigation, as long as doing
so does not prevent the District from
responding effectively to the harassment and preventing harassment of other
students. If a complainant insists that his or her name or other identifiable
information not be disclosed to the alleged perpetrator, the District will
inform the complainant that its ability to respond may be limited. Even if the
District cannot take disciplinary action against the alleged harasser, the
District will pursue other steps to limit the effects of the alleged harassment
and prevent its recurrence, if warranted,
At the same time, the District will evaluate a
confidentiality request in the context of its responsibility to provide a safe
and nondiscriminatory environment for all students. Thus, the District may
weigh the confidentiality request against factors such as: the seriousness of
the alleged harassment, the complainant's age; whether there have been other
harassment complaints about the same individual and the alleged harasser’s
rights to receive information about the allegations if the information is
maintained by the District as an “education record” under FERPA. In some cases,
the District may be required to report alleged misconduct or discrimination,
such as sexual harassment involving sexual violence, to local law enforcement
or other officials, and the District may not be able to maintain the
complainant's confidentiality. The District will inform the complainant that it
cannot ensure confidentiality, if applicable.
6. Training:
The District will ensure that District employees,
including but not limited to officials, administrators, teachers, substitute
teachers, counselors, nurses and other health personnel, coaches, assistant
coaches, paraprofessionals, aides, bus drivers, and school law enforcement
officers, are adequately trained so they understand and know how to identify
acts of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and how to report it to
appropriate District officials or employees. This training will include, at a minimum,
the following areas:
a.
The current legal standards and compliance
requirements of anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation
federal, state, and any local laws and regulations, including several specific
examples of discrimination, harassment (including acts of violence because of a
person's sex or other protected characteristics),
and retaliation.
b.
The District's current anti-discrimination,
anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation notice, policies, grievance procedure,
and discrimination complaint form, including the specific steps and timeframes
of the investigative procedures, and the District's disciplinary procedures.
c.
Identification of the District's designated
compliance coordinators and their job responsibilities.
d.
Specific examples and information regarding how to
report complaints or observations of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation
to appropriate District officials or employees. In addition, the District will
emphasize that employees, students, third parties, and others should not be
deterred from filing a complaint or reporting discrimination. For instance, if
a student is the victim of sexual violence, a form of sexual harassment, but
the student is concerned that alcohol or drugs were involved, school staff
should inform the student that the District's primary concern is student
safety, that any other rules violations will be addressed separately from the
sexual violence allegation, and that the use of alcohol or drugs never makes
the victim at fault for sexual violence.
e.
Potential consequences for violating the District's
anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation policies, including discipline.
f.
Potential remedies, including immediate, interim
remedies, to eliminate the discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, prevent
its recurrence, and remedy its effects.
g.
A description of victim resources, including
comprehensive victim services, to address acts of discrimination and
harassment, including acts of violence because of a person's sex or other protected
characteristics, and a list of those resources for distribution to trainees.
In addition, the District shall ensure that
employees designated to address or investigate discrimination, harassment, and
retaliation, including designated compliance coordinators, receive additional
specific training to promptly and effectively investigate and respond to
complaints and reports of discrimination, and to know the District's grievance
procedures and the applicable confidentiality requirements.
7. Designated
Compliance Coordinators:
Designated compliance coordinators will be
responsible for:
a.
Coordinating efforts to comply with
anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation laws and
regulations.
b.
Coordinating and implementing training for students
and employees pertaining to anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and
anti-retaliation laws and regulations, including the training areas listed
above.
c.
Investigating complaints of discrimination (unless
the coordinator designates other trained individuals to investigate).
d.
Monitoring substantiated complaints or reports of
discrimination, as needed (and with the assistance of other District employees,
if necessary), to ensure discrimination or harassment does not recur, and that
retaliation conduct does not occur or recur.
e.
Overseeing discrimination complaints, including
identifying and addressing any patterns or systemic problems, and reporting
such patterns or systemic problems to the Superintendent and the Board of
Education.
f.
Communicating regularly with the District's law
enforcement unit investigating cases and providing current information to them
pertaining to anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation
standards and compliance requirements.
g.
Reviewing all evidence in harassment or violence
cases brought before the District's disciplinary committee or administrator to
determine whether the complainants are entitled to a remedy under
anti-discrimination laws and regulations that was not available in the
disciplinary process.
h.
Ensuring that investigations address whether other
students or employees may have been subjected to discrimination, including
harassment and retaliation.
i.
Determining whether District employees with
knowledge of allegations of discrimination, including harassment and
retaliation, failed to carry out their duties in reporting the allegations to
the designated compliance coordinator and responding to the allegations.
j.
Recommending changes to this policy and grievance
procedure.
k.
Performing other duties as assigned.
The designated compliance coordinators will not
have other job responsibilities that may create a conflict of interest with
their coordinator responsibilities.
8. Preventive
Measures:
The District will publish and widely distribute on
an ongoing basis a notice of nondiscrimination (notice) in electronic and
printed formats, including prominently displaying the notice on the District's
website and posting the notice at each building in the District. The District
also will designate an employee to coordinate compliance with
anti-discrimination laws (see Designated Compliance Coordinator section, above,
for further information on compliance coordinator), and widely publish and
disseminate this grievance procedure, including prominently posting it on the District’s website, at each
building in the District, reprinting it in District publications, such as
handbooks, and sending it electronically to members of the school community. The District will provide training to
employees and students at the beginning of each academic year in the areas
(B.6.a-g) identified in the Training section, above.
The District also may distribute specific
harassment and violence materials (such as sexual violence), including a
summary of the District’s anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and
anti-retaliation policy and grievance procedure, and a list of victim
resources, during events such as school assemblies and back to school nights,
if recent incidents or allegations warrant additional education to the school
community.
Legal
Authorities: Title VI, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, Title
VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, Title IX; 20 U.S.C. § 1681, and the Nebraska Fair
Employment Practices Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-1101 et seq.
Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Older Workers Benefit Protection
Act (OWBPA), 29 U.S.C. §621 et seq., and the Nebraska Age Discrimination in
Employment Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §48-1001 et seq.;
Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. §
2000e(k)
Uniform Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38
U.S.C. § 4301 et seq.
Date of Adoption: [August 1st, 2011]
Revised and Adopted
[November 21st, 2011]
Revised (July 20th,
2015)