POLICY 7-1.1 EQUAL EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES
The Montgomery County Public Schools’ educational programs and services
shall be designed to meet the varying needs of all students and shall not
discriminate against any individual for reasons of race, religion, color,
gender, national origin, disability, or on any other basis prohibited by law. Students
may express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other
written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious
content of their submissions. Home and classroom work shall be judged by
ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and other legitimate
pedagogical concerns identified by the school. Further, no student shall, on the basis of
gender, be excluded from participating in, be denied the benefits of, be
limited in the exercise of any right, privilege or advantage, or be subjected
to discrimination under any educational program or activity conducted by the
school division. The School Board encourages school division employees, patrons
and students to report promptly all incidents of alleged discriminatory
conduct.
In furtherance of this policy, the School Board shall (i) provide facilities, programs and activities that are accessible, usable and available to qualified disabled persons; (ii) provide a free, appropriate education, including non-academic and extracurricular services, to qualified disabled persons; (iii) not exclude qualified disabled persons, solely on the basis of their disabilities, from any preschool, daycare, adult education or vocational programs; and (iv) not discriminate against qualified disabled persons in the provision of health, welfare or social services.
Sexual Harassment
It is the policy of the School Board to maintain a working and learning
environment for all of its employees and students, which provides for fair
and equitable treatment, including freedom from sexual harassment or abuse. No
employee or student, male or female, shall harass or abuse another employee or
student, male or female, by making unwelcome sexual advances or requests for
sexual favors, or engaging in other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature when (1) submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis
for employment or academic decisions affecting the employee or student, (2)
such conduct creates an intimidating, hostile, offensive or abusive working or
learning environment, or (3) submission to such conduct is made either
explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the individual’s employment or
participation in school programs. As used elsewhere in this policy, the term
“harassment” specifically includes sexual harassment unless the context implies
otherwise.
Grievance Procedure for Students with
Complaints of Discrimination
Reporting
Any student who believes he or she has been the
victim of prohibited discrimination, or any student that has knowledge of
conduct which may constitute prohibited discrimination against another person
should report the alleged discrimination as soon as possible to a building
principal. The building principal will
attempt to resolve the complaint through informal resolution prior to
initiating a formal complaint. If it is
not possible to resolve the matter within 5 business days, then a formal
complaint will be reported by the building principal to one of the compliance
officers designated in this policy.
Any student, employee, parent, or other person
who has knowledge of conduct which may constitute prohibited discrimination
shall report such conduct to the building principal. If it is not possible to resolve the matter
within 5 business days, then the building principal will forward the report to
one of the compliance officers designated in this policy.
The reporting party should use the form, Report of Discrimination, to make
complaints of discrimination. However,
oral reports shall also be accepted. The
complaint must be filed with either the building principal or one of the
compliance officers designated in this policy.
The principal shall immediately forward any report of alleged prohibited
discrimination to a compliance officer.
Any complaint that involves a compliance officer shall be reported to
the division superintendent.
The complaint and identity of the complainant and
alleged perpetrator shall not be disclosed except as required by law or policy,
as necessary to fully investigate the complaint or as authorized by the
complainant.
Investigation
Upon receipt of a report of alleged prohibited
discrimination, the compliance officer shall immediately authorize or undertake
an investigation. The investigation may
be conducted by school personnel or a third party designated by the school
division. The investigation shall be
completed as soon as practicable, but not later than fourteen (14) business
days after receipt of the report by the principal or compliance officer. The investigation may consist of personal
interviews with the complainant, the alleged perpetrator, and any others who
may have knowledge of the alleged discrimination or the circumstances giving
rise to the complaint. The investigation
may also consist of the inspection of any other documents or information deemed
relevant by the investigator. All employees
shall cooperate with any investigation of alleged discrimination conducted
under this policy or by an appropriate state or federal agency.
The school division shall take necessary steps to
protect the complainant and others pending the completion of the
investigation. Whether a particular
action or incident constitutes a violation of this policy requires a
case-by-case determination based on all of the facts and circumstances revealed
after a complete and thorough investigation.
The compliance officer shall issue a written
report to the division superintendent upon completion of the
investigation. If the complaint involves
the division superintendent, then the report shall be sent to the School
Board. The report shall include a
determination of whether the allegations are substantiated, whether this policy
was violated, and recommendations for corrective action, if any.
Within five (5) business days of receiving the
compliance officer’s report, the division superintendent shall issue a decision
regarding (1) whether the policy was violated and (2) what action, if any, should
be taken. This decision must be provided
in writing to the complainant. If the
division superintendent determines that prohibited discrimination occurred, the
Montgomery County School Division shall take prompt, appropriate action to
address and remedy the violation as well as prevent any recurrence. Such action may include discipline up to and
including expulsion or discharge.
Appeal
If the school division determines that no
prohibited discrimination occurred, the student, or parent/guardian of the
student, who was allegedly subjected to discrimination may appeal this finding
to the School Board within five (5) business days of receiving the
decision. Notice of appeal must be filed
with the division superintendent who shall forward the record to the School
Board. The School Board shall make a
decision within thirty (30) calendar days of receiving the record. The School Board may ask for oral or written
argument from the aggrieved party and the division superintendent and any other
individual the School Board deems relevant.
Retaliation
Retaliation against students or school personnel
who report discrimination or participate in the related proceedings is
prohibited. Montgomery County Public
Schools shall take appropriate action against any student or employee who
retaliates against another student or employee who reports alleged
discrimination or participates in related proceedings.
Right to Alternative Complaint Procedure
Nothing in this policy shall deny the right of
any individual to pursue other avenues of recourse to address concerns relating
to prohibited discrimination including initiating civil action, filing a
complaint with outside agencies or seeking redress under state or federal law.
Compliance Officers
The Montgomery County School Board has designated
the Directors of Elementary and Secondary Education, 200 Junkin Street,
Christiansburg, Virginia, 24073, (540) 382-5100, as the Compliance Officers
responsible for identifying, preventing, and remedying prohibited
discrimination. The Compliance Officers
shall: (1) receive reports or complaints
of discrimination; (2) oversee the investigation of any alleged discrimination;
(3) assess the training needs of the school division in connection with this
policy; (4) arrange necessary training to achieve compliance with this policy;
(5) insure that any discrimination investigation is conducted by an impartial
investigator who is trained in the requirements of equal education opportunity,
including the authority to protect the alleged victim and others during the
investigation.
Prevention and Notice of Policy
Training to prevent discrimination should be
included in employee and student orientations as well as employee in-service
training. This policy shall be (1)
displayed in prominent areas of each division building in a location accessible
to students, parents and school personnel, (2) included in the student and
employee handbooks, and (3) sent to parents of all students within thirty (30)
calendar days of the start of school.
All students and their parent/guardian shall be notified annually of the
names and contact information of the Compliance Officers.
False Charges
Students or school personnel who make false charges
of discrimination shall be subject to disciplinary action.
LEGAL REFERENCE: Constitution of
Adopted: April 2004
Revised: June 2008, May 2011