OCR has received more complaints in the past three years (2009-2011) than ever before regarding disability-related issues. The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") enforces federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, age, and disability. However, during the period between 2009-2011, 55% of the complaints received by OCR dealt with disability-related issues. The top disability-related complaint concerned FAPE, but other issues raised by complaints included retaliation, academic adjustments, denial of benefits, and harassment.
OCR's publication, "Disability Rights Enforcement Highlights," can be accessed here.
Meghan Covert Russell
Showing posts with label Harassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harassment. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
It's July 1: Do Your Anti-Bullying Policies Comply With The Law?
As of July 1, 2012, AB 9 requires that all school district anti-harassment/anti-discrimination board policies must include language prohibiting the intimidation and bullying based on the actual or perceived characteristics as set forth in Education Code 220.
AB 9 also requires districts to have a complaint procedure in place for responding to allegations of bullying.
Do your board policies comply with the requirements set forth in AB 9? If not, now is the time to revise them!
For past coverage of AB 9 and its requirements, please click here.
AB 9 also requires districts to have a complaint procedure in place for responding to allegations of bullying.
Do your board policies comply with the requirements set forth in AB 9? If not, now is the time to revise them!
For past coverage of AB 9 and its requirements, please click here.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Georgia School District Not Held Liable for Student's Suicide
This week the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled in favor of the Murray County School District on their motion for summary judgment in the case of Long v. Murray County School District. The case has garnered national attention due to its focus on bullying. Seventeen-year-old Tyler Lee Long ("Long"), who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, was the victim of severe, nearly constant bullying at his Georgia high school and eventually committed suicide. Long's parents sued the Murray County School District alleging that their failure to intervene, investigate, correct, or train employees to adequately protect Tyler from bullying constituted deliberate indifference and was the cause of his decision to take his own life.
Long was subject to numerous instances of bullying throughout his time at Murray County High School, but often these instances were not observed by school staff nor reported to school staff. Long's parents did email school staff with concerns about their son and school officials did respond by disciplining harassers and taking measures to prevent future harm. However, Long's parents argued that the school's response failed to adequately address and stop the bullying.
Plaintiffs also alleged that the peer-on-peer harassment violated the ADA and Section 504 and that Long was discriminated against because of his disability. Although the Court determined that Plaintiffs could potentially show that Long was (1) disabled, (2) harassed due to a disability, (3) that the harassment denied Long equal access to education, and (4) that the appropriate school officials had actual notice of the harassment, they were unable to show that (5) the Defendant's actions rose to the level of deliberate indifference. According to the Court, "school officials will only be deemed deliberately indifferent if their response to the harassment or lack thereof is clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances." The Court noted that "although Plaintiffs establish that Defendants should have done more to address disability harassment, Plaintiffs fail to meet the high bar of deliberate indifference and demonstrate that Defendants' response was clearly unreasonable." The evidence showed that the District investigated and responded to each reported incident.
Although the District was not held legally liable for Long's death, the case is an important lesson to students and staff that bullying is very real danger that deserves serious attention in our schools. Students should be encouraged to report any instances of bullying they observe to school staff. School officials should actively investigate any reports of bullying and appropriately discipline students. Additionally, it should be noted that as in this case, students with disabilities are often the targets of bullying. If students with disabilities are being bullied, the student's IEP team may want to address this in the IEP, or create a safety plan for the student.
The ruling is available in its entirety here.
Meghan Covert Russell
Long was subject to numerous instances of bullying throughout his time at Murray County High School, but often these instances were not observed by school staff nor reported to school staff. Long's parents did email school staff with concerns about their son and school officials did respond by disciplining harassers and taking measures to prevent future harm. However, Long's parents argued that the school's response failed to adequately address and stop the bullying.
Plaintiffs also alleged that the peer-on-peer harassment violated the ADA and Section 504 and that Long was discriminated against because of his disability. Although the Court determined that Plaintiffs could potentially show that Long was (1) disabled, (2) harassed due to a disability, (3) that the harassment denied Long equal access to education, and (4) that the appropriate school officials had actual notice of the harassment, they were unable to show that (5) the Defendant's actions rose to the level of deliberate indifference. According to the Court, "school officials will only be deemed deliberately indifferent if their response to the harassment or lack thereof is clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances." The Court noted that "although Plaintiffs establish that Defendants should have done more to address disability harassment, Plaintiffs fail to meet the high bar of deliberate indifference and demonstrate that Defendants' response was clearly unreasonable." The evidence showed that the District investigated and responded to each reported incident.
Although the District was not held legally liable for Long's death, the case is an important lesson to students and staff that bullying is very real danger that deserves serious attention in our schools. Students should be encouraged to report any instances of bullying they observe to school staff. School officials should actively investigate any reports of bullying and appropriately discipline students. Additionally, it should be noted that as in this case, students with disabilities are often the targets of bullying. If students with disabilities are being bullied, the student's IEP team may want to address this in the IEP, or create a safety plan for the student.
The ruling is available in its entirety here.
Meghan Covert Russell
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