Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) Superintendent Dr. Stanley Rose announced today that the District will begin to implement several steps to inform and educate students and staff on recognizing, responding to and reporting all forms of harassment in order to create safer and more supportive learning and working environments. These actions will include appointing a harassment task force, streamlining and simplifying harassment reporting processes, and educating and training District staff, students, and their parents.
“Santa Clara Unified School District does not condone the mistreatment of our students, past or present,” said Dr. Stanley Rose, Superintendent. “We hold our employees to the highest professional standards and conduct. Our district strives to protect our students in every way possible — from campus security to bullying prevention and mental health services — and every representative of our district is responsible for ensuring safe school climates,” he continued.
Santa Clara Unified School District’s commitment is “Rising Above in Silicon Valley!” The District applies this commitment to its educational programs and facilities by seeking innovative ways that students can be educated and prepared beyond basic subjects and to be leaders in Silicon Valley. “We know that rising above means doing all we can to increase ways that our students and employees are safe from all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment, at school and in the workplace,” explained Rose. “We are also subject to federal and state laws for processing complaints and dealing with matters of discipline to assure that the rights of all are respected.”
In the coming weeks before the summer break, the District will begin to implement the following steps:
Step 1: Appoint the Step Up and Stop Harassment Task Force
The Step Up and Stop Harassment task force will consist of teachers and certificated staff, students, parents, classified staff, and administrative staff representatives who will identify areas of improvement of harassment reporting, processes and education for the District community, as well as ways to engage stakeholders in dialogues and forming solutions around harassment. Additional announcements about this task force will be made in the near future.
Step 2: Streamline and Simplify Harassment Reporting Processes
Based on task force recommendations and best practices, the District will begin to implement streamlined and simplified harassment reporting processes that will increase the timeliness of referrals to District and local law enforcement representatives and protection for victims.
Step 3: Expanded Training and Education of Staff, Students, and Parents
First, the District has established Resources for Parents on Sexual Harassment and Assault to provide parents information and resources on sexual assault and harassment and tips how to discuss harassment with their child. The District acknowledges that its families come from a variety of cultures, beliefs and values systems, and encourage parents to discuss these topics in a way that works best for their family.
Next, the District will provide expanded harassment training beyond its annual sexual harassment training so that District staff can recognize, respond to, and report harassment through the proper channels in a timely manner. This training will also facilitate increased support for students reporting sexual harassment.In addition, at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, parents and students of all grade levels will receive expanded age-appropriate education programs and resources on how to recognize, respond to, and report harassment to their parents or a trusted SCUSD employee.
Santa Clara Unified School District will continue to seek ways to increase the safety of its schools so that the entire District community can help students continue to rise above in Silicon Valley.
Additional questions can be answered by Andrew Lucia, Assistant Superintendent, School Support and District Development at (408) 423-2008 or alucia@scusd.net.