7:020 Harassment of Students Prohibited

No person, including a School District employee or agent, or student, shall harass, intimidate, or bully a student on the basis of actual or perceived: race; color; national origin; military status; unfavorable discharge status from military service; sex; sexual orientation; gender identity; gender-related identity or expression; ancestry; age; religion; physical or mental disability; order of protection status; status of being homeless; actual or potential marital or parental status, including pregnancy; physical appearance; socioeconomic status; academic status; association with a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual or perceived characteristics; or any other distinguishing characteristic. The District will not tolerate harassing, intimidating conduct, or bullying whether verbal, physical, sexual, or visual, that affects the tangible benefits of education, that unreasonably interferes with a student’s educational performance, or that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. Examples of prohibited conduct include name-calling, using derogatory slurs, stalking, sexual violence, causing psychological harm, threatening or causing physical harm, threatened or actual destruction of property, or wearing or possessing items depicting or implying hatred or prejudice of one of the characteristics stated above.

Sexual Harassment Prohibited

The District shall provide an educational environment free of verbal, physical, or other conduct or communication constituting harassment on the basis of sex as defined and otherwise prohibited by State and federal law..  See Board policies 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure, and 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure.

Making a Report or Complaint

Students are encouraged to promptly report claims or incidences of bullying, intimidation, harassment, sexual harassment, or any other prohibited conduct to the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Building Principal, Assistant Building Principal, Dean of Students, a Complaint Manager, or any employee with whom the student is comfortable speaking. A student may choose to report to an employee of the student’s same gender.

Reports under this policy will be considered a report under Board policy 2:260 Uniform Grievance Procedure, and/or Board policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure.  The Nondiscrimination Coordinator and/or Complaint Manager shall process and review the report according to the appropriate grievance procedure.  The Superintendent shall insert into this policy the names, office addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the district’s current Nondiscrimination Coordinator and Complaint Managers.  The Nondiscrimination Coordinator also serves as the District’s Title IX Coordinator.

Nondiscrimination Coordinator:

Complaint Managers:

The Superintendent shall use reasonable measures to inform staff members and students of this policy by including:

1. For students, age-appropriate information about the contents of this policy in the District’s student handbook(s), on the District’s website, and, if applicable, in any other areas where policies, rules, and standards of conduct are otherwise posted in each school.
2. For staff members, this policy in the appropriate employee handbook(s), if applicable, and/or in any other areas where policies, rules, and standards of conduct are otherwise made available to staff.

Investigation Process

Any District employee who receives a report or complaint of harassment must promptly forward the report or complaint to the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or a Complaint Manager. Any employee who fails to promptly comply may be disciplined, up to and including discharge.

Reports and complaints of harassment will be confidential to the greatest extent practicable, subject to the District’s duty to investigate and maintain an educational environment that is productive, respectful, and free of unlawful discrimination, including harassment.

For any report or complaint alleging sexual harassment that, if true, would implicate Title IX of the Education amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C Sec 1681 et seq), the Nondiscrimination coordinator or designee shall consider whether action under Board policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure should be initiated.

For any report or complaint alleging harassment on the basis of race, color, or national origin, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or a Complaint Manager or designee shall investigate under Board policy 2:270, Discrimination and Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color, and National Origin Prohibited.

For any other alleged student harassment that does not require action under Board policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure, or 2:270, Discrimination and Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color, and National Origin Prohibited, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or a Complaint Manager or designee shall consider whether an investigation under Board policies 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure and or 7:190, Student Behavior, should be initiated, regardless of whether a written report or complaint is filed.

Reports That Involve Alleged Incidents of Sexual Abuse of a Child by School Personnel

An alleged incident of sexual abuse is an incident of sexual abuse of a child, as defined in 720 ILCS 5/11-9.1A(b), that is alleged to have been perpetrated by school personnel, including a school vendor or volunteer, that occurred: on school grounds during a school activity; or outside of school grounds or not during a school activity.

Any complaint alleging an incident of sexual abuse shall be processed and reviewed according to Board policy 5:090, Abused and Neglected Child Reporting. In addition to reporting the suspected abuse, the complaint shall also be processed under Board policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure, or policy 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure.

Enforcement

Any District employee who is determined, after an investigation, to have engaged in conduct prohibited by this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge. Any third party who is determined, after an investigation, to have engaged in conduct prohibited by this policy will be addressed in accordance with the authority of the Board in the context of the relationship of the third party to the District e.g., vendor, parent, invitee, etc.  Any District student who is determined, after an investigation, to have engaged in conduct prohibited by this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to, suspension and expulsion consistent with the behavior policy. Any person making a knowingly false accusation regarding prohibited conduct will likewise be subject to disciplinary action.

Retaliation Prohibited

Retaliation against any person for bringing complaints or providing information about harassment is prohibited (see Board policies 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure, 2:265  Title IX Grievance Procedure. and 2:270, Discrimination and Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color, and National Origin Prohibited.).

Students should report allegations of retaliation to the Building Principal, an administrator, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator and/or a Complaint Manager.

Cross References: 

• 2:260 Uniform Grievance Procedure
• 2:265 Title IX Grievance Procedure
• 2:270 Discrimination and Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color, and National Origin Prohibited
• 4:165 Awareness and Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and Grooming Behaviors
• 5:020 Workplace Harassment Prohibited
• 5:090 Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
• 5:120 Employee Ethics; Code of Professional Conduct; and Conflict of Interest
• 7:010 Equal Educational Opportunities
• 7:180 Preventing Bullying, Intimidation, and Harassment
• 7:185 Teen Dating Violence Prohibited
• 7:190 Student Discipline
• 7:240 Conduct Code for Participants in Extracurricular Activities

Legal References: 

• 20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; 34 C.F.R. Part 106.
• 105 ILCS 5/10-20.12
• 105 ILCS 10-22.5
• 105 ILCS 5/27-1
• 105 ILCS 5/27-23.7.
• 775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq., Illinois Human Rights Act.
• 23 Ill.Admin.Code §1.240 and Part 200.
• Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education 526 U.S. 629 (1999).
• Franklin v. Gwinnett Co. Public Schools, 503 U.S. 60 (1992).
• Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998).
• West v. Derby Unified School District No. 260, 206 F.3d 1358 (10th Cir., 2000).

Date Adopted:  February 26, 2013

Date Amended:  January 21, 2020; September 22, 2020; November 19, 2024