To: Michael Green
From: Vicky Barnes
Date: March 6, 2024
Subject: Sexual Harassment Report for 2022 -2023 SY
Policy 5011 includes notice and training and a review of the processes we have in place.
We train our district employees, parents/guardians, and volunteers in what sexual harassment or discrimination is and the complaint process for each one. Our student and parent handbooks and our employee handbooks outline this information. We train all of our employees upon hire through the online training program Vector Solutions. Employees go through the course What Every Employee Must Be Told and other focused training modules assigned on a three-year rotation. Employees are also emailed information annually that identifies what sexual harassment and discrimination are and who to contact to make a complaint about either of these.
As the Title IX Coordinator, I attended Title IX Investigator Training as well as the trainings below:
As the Title IX coordinator, part of my role is to look at whether the incident rises to a Title IX investigation, which includes three areas. Is it quid pro quo? Is it severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive unwelcome conduct, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking? If the incident does not rise to the level of any of those areas, the investigation is often done at the building level, with the administrator following up with me concerning their findings and the resolution process. All concerns are taken seriously, and investigations are done.
In the 2022-2023 school year, three incidents were brought to my attention by administrators where concerns were raised about students and unwanted sexual conduct or communication but were not formal complaints. None of them rose to the level of a Title IX complaint, so they were handled at the building level.
On April 22, 2022, principal Phil Pearson called with a concern that had been raised with a teacher. A student had told a staff member that students were making sexual comments, and a teacher had joined in the conversation. The student and their parents chose not to have her make an official complaint or be interviewed in the investigation. I interviewed the staff member and students in the class. The culture of the class was concerning because of how “normal” the students treated the sexual comments. I didn’t find any evidence that the teacher engaged in sexual conversations with students, but I saw the lack of leadership and supervision did allow students to act out when unmonitored and created a culture that allowed sexual harassment. I assigned training in Vector - student-to-student sexual harassment to the teacher and attended a meeting where expectations for classroom management are clearly spelled out, including both consequences for repeat bad behavior and visibility as the teacher in the classroom.