Ventura County school officials said Monday that they will review policies and increase training of school employees in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling holding schools legally responsible for sexual harassment among students.
Several officials said the ruling in favor of a Georgia family whose daughter was harassed at school will probably cause teachers and administrators to pay closer attention to how students are treating each other.
Most local districts already respond aggressively to allegations of sexual harassment. In fact, state law allows school officials to suspend or expel students who harass their classmates. And California court cases have held districts financially responsible for incidents of sexual harassment in the schools.
"We are already held accountable," Oxnard Elementary School District Supt. Richard Duarte said Monday. "This just brings a heightened awareness."
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that schools could be forced to pay damages if they ignore severe sexual harassment of one student by another. The girl whose family filed suit said a classmate harassed her for five months, making obscene comments and trying to touch her in a sexual manner. Despite her mother's complaints, school administrators did nothing, according to the suit.
Ventura County schools Supt. Chuck Weis said he plans to work with local superintendents to make sure that administrators can identify sexual harassment, are aware of the procedures and are following through with discipline.
Gwen Gross, superintendent of Ojai Unified School District, said her district will take a second look at the harassment policy and remind students and teachers what it says. The district will also hold additional training sessions for students and staff, she said.
Jon Light, who works for an Oxnard firm that represents local school districts, often leads that training. In those sessions, Light said he defines sexual harassment, explains the law and asks students to act out possible scenarios. It is crucial, he said, for students to understand what is and isn't sexual harassment.
"The policies are already there," Light said. "The key is that you can have all the laws in the world, but if the kids don't know them, it doesn't matter."
Ironically, some local attorneys said the Supreme Court standard requiring the harassment to be severe and repeatedly ignored by school officials appears at first to be higher than the standard now in use at California schools, possibly making it harder for parents to prevail if a lawsuit is filed.
