FOUNDATIONS SECTION

Regulation 1B.4R

HARASSMENT AND DISCRIMINATION RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINTS

The schools have a duty to ensure an environment free from harassment and discrimination
based on race, color creed, political affiliation, age, national origin, sex, disability or marital
status, or sexual orientation.

I. REPORTING PROCEDURES

A. Filing Complaints

Complaints concerning discrimination and harassment may be made by students, their

parents, employees of the school system, or other citizens acting on behalf of students or
staff members, to the appropriate compliance officer. Any such person is hereafter
referred to as the complainant and the compliance officer as the officer. The person
accused of committing harassment or discrimination is hereafter referred to as the
subject.

The complainant is encouraged to report immediately the alleged acts to a school division
employee including but not limited to a teacher, supervisor or coach, the building
principal, or the division compliance officer. While the decision to file a report or
complaint initially rests with the complainant, if evidence of harassment or discrimination
comes into the possession of a school employee, there is a duty to report such evidence to
the building principal/assistant principal.

The complainant is encouraged to give a written report of the alleged harassment or

discrimination, but an oral report will be considered as well.

In each school building, the principal or assistant principal will be the person responsible
for receiving written or oral reports of harassment or discrimination. As part of receiving
the report, the principal/assistant principal will necessarily have to make a determination
about the credibility of the reporting party. If there is any credible evidence of
harassment or discrimination, the report must be forwarded to the compliance officer for
further action. In addition, if the principal or assistant principal believe that investigation
is necessary to determine credibility, the report will be forwarded. If an oral report is
given, the principal/assistant principal shall reduce it to written form as soon as
practicable but no later than 2 working days after the oral report is given. It will be
forwarded to the compliance officer. If a written statement is given, it will be forwarded
as soon as practicable by the principal/assistant principal to the compliance officer.

Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools

FOUNDATIONS SECTION
Regulation 1B.4R
Failure to forward any harassment or discrimination report or complaint as provided
herein will result in disciplinary action.

If a full investigation is to be held and disciplinary action is to be taken, a formal

complaint must be filed. However, a report can be investigated by the compliance officer
to determine the appropriate action to resolve the report, which may include suggesting
an informal resolution or treating the report as a formal complaint.

False charges of harassment or discrimination shall be treated as a serious offense and

those persons making false charges shall be subject to disciplinary action.

If the principal/assistant principal is alleged to be involved, a report of a violation may be

filed directly with the compliance officer. If the complaint is against the compliance
officer the complaint shall be filed with the Superintendent. If the complaint is against
the Superintendent, the complaint shall be filed with the chairman of the School Board.

The compliance officer is available to discuss with a complainant, the principal/assistant

principal, other reporting party, or the subject, the process of investigating and resolving
a complaint.

The school division may take immediate steps, at its discretion, to protect from reprisal or
retaliation any complainant, students, teachers, administrators or other school personnel
during the investigation of alleged harassment or discrimination.

B. Employee Duty to Report

Any school employee who observes, overhears, witnesses or otherwise receives credible
evidence of harassment or discrimination which may violate school division policies
must report such actions to the principal or assistant principal, who will then report it to
the compliance officer.

Just as they are expected to uphold the standards of the Student Code of Conduct,
employees who witness student to student harassment or discrimination are expected to
intervene to stop the harassment or discrimination.

The principal or assistant principal to whom harassment or discrimination is reported, the

principal or assistant principal must report such action to the compliance officer. In
addition, the principal or assistant principal must take prompt and appropriate action to
stop the harassment or discrimination and to prevent its recurrence

Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools

FOUNDATIONS SECTION
Regulation 1B.4R
C. Students and Other Persons Duty to Report

Students are reminded that the Student Code of Conduct prohibits harassment and
discrimination. Any student or other person who believes that harassment or
discrimination of a student or other member of the school community has occurred
should file a complaint report with the principal or assistant principal.

1 II. INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS

2
3 A. Informal Procedure to Resolve a Report

It may be possible to resolve a report through a voluntary conversation between the

complainant and the subject which is facilitated by the compliance officer or designee, or
by a series of conversations, each held with the compliance officer and an administrator
or counselor, but not necessarily with the complainant and subject at the same time.

If the complainant or the subject is a student under the age of 18, the compliance officer
should notify the involved students parent(s)/guardian(s) unless it is determined not to be
in the students best interest after initial consultation with the student. Both the
complainant and the subject may be accompanied by a person of their choice for support
and guidance during such informal conversations.

If the complainant and the subject feel that a resolution has been achieved, then the
conversation may remain confidential and no further action needs to be taken. The
results of an informal resolution shall be reported by the facilitator, in writing, to the
school principal and will be kept in the compliance officer/designees confidential file.
The record of the informal resolution of a complaint may be disclosed and considered
only if there is a subsequent recurrence of the same or similar actions by the subject.
In that event, the prior informal resolution may be considered when determining school
division action in a subsequent case.

If the complainant, the subject, or the compliance officer/designee, chooses not to utilize
the informal procedure, or feels that the informal procedures is inadequate or has been
unsuccessful, he/she may proceed to the formal procedure.

The informal procedure should occur promptly after the actions complained of, so that the
right to file a formal complaint is not impaired.

B. Formal Procedure for Resolving Complaints with Division Compliance Officer

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Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools

FOUNDATIONS SECTION
Regulation 1B.4R
1. Filing

In order to accurately and thoroughly investigate allegations and resolve complaints, the school
division encourages complainants to report alleged harassment or discrimination promptly
following the actions, but within thirty calendar days. This time frame may be lengthened for
extraordinary circumstances, but it must be recognized that delay in reporting may diminish the
ability to accurately investigate and resolve the complaint. If the claim concerns an ongoing or
continuous course of conduct, the complaint shall be filed promptly following the latest overt
action but within thirty calendar days. In the case of continuous conduct, if the complaint is
timely made, all of the continuous conduct is subject to investigation and appropriate disciplinary
action.

All complaints are to be investigated by the compliance officer in a prompt and

responsible manner, as defined below.

A formal complaint is required for an investigation and appropriate disciplinary action.

The confidentiality of the reporting party, and all witnesses, will be observed provided it does
not interfere with the investigation or with the ability to take corrective action.

2. Initial Determination

A. The officer shall immediately undertake or authorize an initial determination. This

determination may be conducted by the compliance officer or by a third party designated
by the school division. The purpose of the initial determination is to gather facts that
would enable a reasonable person to determine, based on all the facts and surrounding
circumstances, if harassment or discrimination has occurred.

B. The investigator shall consider:

The nature and frequency of the behavior

Whether there were past incidents or past continuing patterns of behavior
The relationship between the parties involved
The race, national origin, sex and age of the complainant(s) and subject(s)
The identity of the subject, including whether the subject was in a position of power
over the person allegedly subject to harassment or discrimination
Where the harassment or discrimination is alleged to have occurred
Whether there have been other incidents in the school involving the same or other
persons
Whether the conduct adversely affected the complaining students education or
educational environment
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Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools

FOUNDATIONS SECTION
Regulation 1B.4R
Whether the conduct adversely affected the complaining employees work safety or
work environment
The context in which the alleged incidents occurred.

C. The initial determination may include:

1 Interviews of all persons who appear to have relevant information about the
claim, which may be recorded. The officer may require persons interviewed to
reduce their information to a signed written statement. Arrangements to conduct
the interview may be made through the persons attorney, if represented.
2 Relevant physical evidence or documents
3 Review of the background of persons involved.

D. Findings and Report of the Initial Determination

The officer shall summarize the initial determination and shall make proposed
findings, including recommended appropriate action, in a written report no later
than fourteen calendar days from receipt of the complaint. An extension of time
beyond fourteen days is permitted if the number of interviews or complexity of
the fact-finding requires more time to complete. In that event, the officer shall
issue the written report as soon as possible following the completion of the initial
determination.

The officers written report will make one of three conclusions:

1. If the officer determines that the complaint, even if proven, does not
constitute harassment or discrimination, the officer shall state the findings
in writing and report them to the Superintendent who may accept or refuse
to accept this determination.

2. If the officer determines that the complaint clearly constitutes harassment

or discrimination, the officer shall state the findings and recommended
appropriate action in writing, to the Superintendent

3. If the officer determines that the complaint likely constitutes harassment

or discrimination but requires more investigation by a three member
committee, the compliance officer will request appointment of two
additional employees who have been trained in investigating complaints.
Further investigation will be conducted by the three member committee.

3. Investigation by Three Member Committee

Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools

FOUNDATIONS SECTION
Regulation 1B.4R
The three member committee, once appointed, will continue the fact-finding
investigation. The committee will consider all the relevant factual evidence and
surrounding circumstances including all interviews, tape recordings, physical
evidence, and other matters relied upon in the initial determination. The
committee will consider all other additional information deemed relevant.

If the committee determines that the complaint, if proven, constitutes harassment

or discrimination, the committee shall state the findings in writing and report
them, and any recommended action, to the Superintendent.

If the committee determines that the complaint, if proven, does not constitute
harassment or discrimination, or that there is insufficient proof that harassment or
discrimination occurred, the committee shall state the findings in writing and
report them, and any recommended action, to the Superintendent.

Unless extended for extraordinary reasons, the three member committee will
complete its fact-finding and issue its written report with recommendations within
thirty working days.

III. SUPERINTENDENTS ACTION

Upon receipt of the compliance officers written report or the three member committees
written report, the Superintendent will take appropriate responsive action. Such response
may include, but is not limited to: counseling, awareness training, parent-teacher
conferences, warning, remediation, suspension, expulsion, transfer, termination or
discharge.

In determining what is an appropriate response, the Superintendent shall consider: what

response is most likely to end any ongoing harassment or discrimination; whether a
particular response is likely to deter similar future conduct by the subject or others; the
amount and kind of harm suffered by the complainant; the identity of the subject and
his/her position in the school community; whether the harassment or discrimination was
engaged in by school personnel, and if so, the Superintendent will also consider how best
to remedy the effects of the harassment or discrimination.

The Superintendents response to actions which violate the non-discrimination policies

will follow the procedural steps which govern employee grievances (Policy 8.36
Grievance Procedures) and student discipline actions (Policy 9.26 Suspension &
Expulsion and Policy 9.34 Student Code of Conduct). All procedural steps, including
appeal to the School Board, are governed by those policies.

Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools

FOUNDATIONS SECTION
Regulation 1B.4R
If the Superintendent believes that further investigation is warranted, she/he may remand
the matter to the compliance officer or to the three member committee for such action.
Such further investigation will be completed within ten (10) working days.

IV. REPORT TO THE COMPLAINANT AND SUBJECT

The result of the divisions investigation of each compliant filed under these procedures
will be reported in writing by the division to the complainant and to the subject with due
regard to the protection of privacy and records in accordance with state and federal laws
regarding data and/or records privacy.

V. RETALIATION/REPRISAL

Any individual filing a good faith complaint about harassment or discrimination, or

testifying, assisting or participating in a proceeding, investigation or hearing related to
such harassment or discrimination complaint, is assured that the school division will not
tolerate any retaliation for his/her actions.

Retaliation, or encouragement of retaliation, against anyone reporting or thought to have

reported harassment or discrimination is prohibited. Retaliation includes, but is not
limited to, any form if intimidation, reprisal or harassment. Individuals who retaliate, or
who encourage retaliation, will be subject to discipline up to and including expulsion or
discharge. Such retaliation shall be considered a serious and independent violation of the
school division policies.

VI. RIGHT TO OTHER REMEDIES

These procedures do not preclude or deny the right of any individual to pursue other
avenues of recourse which may include filing charges with the US Department of
Education Office of Civil Rights, state or local human rights council, initiating civil
action or seeking redress under available state or federal statutes.

Adopted: 11/5/96 Revised: 6/10/2010

Falls Church City Public Schools