Madison Metropolitan School District
Board of Education Policies and Procedures

POLICY	NONDISCRIMINATION	8012 Human Resources

Policy-Prohibition Against Discrimination

1. With respect to employment and personnel operations, the Madison Metropolitan School District does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, physical appearance, marital status, handicap, disability, arrest or conviction record, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, less than honorable discharge, source of income, association with a person with a disability or the fact that an individual is a student. Employees shall function in a harassment-free work atmosphere and enjoy working conditions free from physical, verbal, or psychological harassment.

   Title VII; s 111.36; Mad. Ord. 3.23

   [NOTE: The City of Madison defines gender expression in Madison City Ordinance Sec. 3.23 (2)(t) as follows:

   Gender Identity is the actual or perceived condition, status or acts of 1) identifying emotionally or psychologically with the sex other than one's biological or legal sex at birth, whether or not there has been a physical change of the organs of sex; 2) presenting and/or holding oneself out to the public as a member of the biological sex that was not one's biological or legal sex at birth;

   This means that gender identity refers to an individual's fundamental sense of themselves as being male or female, masculine or feminine. Gender identity does not always correspond to biological sex.

   The City of Madison's Ordinance Sec. 3.23 (2)(t) continues its definition of gender identity with an explanation of what is referred to as gender expression.

   3) lawfully displaying physical characteristics and/or behavioral characteristics and/or expressions which are widely perceived as being more appropriate to the biological or legal sex that was not one's biological or legal sex at birth, as when a male is perceived as feminine or a female is perceived as masculine; and/or4) being physically and/or behaviorally androgynous.

   This means that gender expression refers to the things like clothing and behavior that manifest a person's fundamental sense of themselves as masculine or feminine, and male or female. This can include but not be limited to dress, posture, hairstyle, jewelry, and vocal inflection.]

2. 1. With respect to educational programs, no person shall be denied admission to any District school, or be denied participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be discriminated against in any curricular, extracurricular, pupil services, recreational or other program or activity because of the person's sex, race, national origin, ancestry, religion, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or disability including her or his physical, mental, emotional, or learning disability.

      s. 118.13

      [NOTE: The City of Madison defines gender expression in Madison City Ordinance Sec. 3.23 (2)(t) as follows:

      Gender Identity is the actual or perceived condition, status or acts of 1) identifying emotionally or psychologically with the sex other than one's biological or legal sex at birth, whether or not there has been a physical change of the organs of sex; 2) presenting and/or holding oneself out to the public as a member of the biological sex that was not one's biological or legal sex at birth;

      This means that gender identity refers to an individual's fundamental sense of themselves as being male or female, masculine or feminine. Gender identity does not always correspond to biological sex.

      The City of Madison's Ordinance Sec. 3.23 (2)(t) continues its definition of gender identity with an explanation of what is referred to as gender expression.

      3) lawfully displaying physical characteristics and/or behavioral characteristics and/or expressions which are widely perceived as being more appropriate to the biological or legal sex that was not one's biological or legal sex at birth, as when a male is perceived as feminine or a female is perceived as masculine; and/or4) being physically and/or behaviorally androgynous.

      This means that gender expression refers to the things like clothing and behavior that manifest a person's fundamental sense of themselves as masculine or feminine, and male or female. This can include but not be limited to dress, posture, hairstyle, jewelry, and vocal inflection.]

   2. This POLICY also prohibits discrimination under related federal statutes, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (race and national origin), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (sex), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (handicap).
3. The POLICY statements in paragraphs 2.a. and 2.b. above include, but are not limited to, the following areas:
   1. Admission or enrollment into any school, class, courses, program or activity;
      (This does not prohibit placing a pupil in a school, class, program, or activity based on objective standards of individual performance or need.)
   2. Interactions in the classroom, counseling, as well as with other support staff;
   3. Standards and rules of behavior, including pupil harassment;
   4. Disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions;
   5. Acceptance and administration of gifts, bequests, scholarships, other forms of recognition, such as aids, benefits, awards, or services to pupils from private agencies, organizations or persons;
   6. Instructional and library media materials selection policy;
   7. Methods, practices, materials, attitudes, and interpretations used for testing, assessment, evaluating, and counseling pupils;
      (This does not prohibit the use of special testing or counseling materials or techniques to meet the individual needs of pupils.)
   8. Facilities;
   9. Opportunity for participation in athletic programs or activities;
   10. School-sponsored food service programs;
   11. Graduation requirements.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
s. 111.36, s 118.13
Madison Ordinance 3.23

4. Harassment
   1. The District is committed to the provision of a professional, harassment-free environment for employees, job applicants, students of the District, and to all persons who seek or receive services from the District or its contractors. The Board considers all forms of harassment, including hazing, to be unacceptable behavior because it undermines productivity in the work and academic environments, degrades, intimidates, isolates and is discriminatory. Harassment infringes upon the rights of all and creates a hostile environment for learning and working.

      To ensure that all employees and students work and study in an environment free of all forms of harassment, the Board expressly prohibits harassment based on race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, disabilities, handicap, religion, age, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest/conviction record, source of income, association with a person with a disability, physical appearance, student status, political beliefs, less than honorable discharge, gender identity and gender expression as defined above, and will take all the necessary steps to prevent such harassment from occurring. Any employee or student who engages in harassment will be disciplined by the appropriate authorities.

   2. Harassment is defined as: Unwanted, deliberate or repeated unsolicited comments (oral or written), gestures, graphic material, physical contacts, verbal/nonverbal or physical conduct directed to an individual because of his/her membership in a protected class constitute harassment when this conduct:
      1. Has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or educational environment; or
      2. Has the purpose or effect of unreasonably or substantially interfering with an individual's work or student's performance in school, including his/her performance in curricular, extracurricular, and nonacademic activities; or
      3. Otherwise adversely affects an individual's employment or a student's opportunities in curriculum, extracurricular, and nonacademic activities; or
      4. Submission to the conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of an individual's employment; or a student's opportunity to obtain an education; or
      5. Submission to or rejection of the conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the individual or as a factor in decisions affecting the student's education; or
      6. Is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that it adversely affects (1) a student's ability to participate in or benefit from an educational program or activity or (2) an individual's ability to work.
   3. Examples of harassment may include but not limited to:
      1. Unwanted physical contact including touching, pinching and/or brushing the body.
      2. Indecent exposure, including lewd and lascivious behaviors.
      3. Persistent requests for social/sexual encounters and favors.
      4. Making inappropriate statements or jokes about students or staff because of their protected status, (e.g., gender, disability, sexual preference, race, religion, etc.).
      5. Basing a personnel decision on someone providing sexual favors, or someone protected status (e.g., ancestry, age, political beliefs, physical appearance, religion, etc).
      6. Displaying graphic, sexually explicit objects, posters or pictures that show adolescents, women, racial minorities, people who have disabilities or students in a degrading or humiliating manner.
      7. Obscene gestures, nonverbal suggestive behavior (leering) or insulting sounds (whistling).
   4. Any person who believes that he/she has been harassed may file a complaint with the Affirmative Action Officer of the District in accordance with the complaint procedure outlined below.
   5. Notification procedures of the Board's policy against illegal harassment are set forth below.

10/04/04

PROCEDURE	NONDISCRIMINATION	8012 Human Resources

Resolution of Discrimination/Harassment Complaints

Applicability

1. Any employee, applicant for employment, student, parent, or resident of the District who believes s/he has been discriminated against may file a complaint.
2. Prior to the time a complaint has been filed, the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator may meet with any employee, applicant for employment, parent, student, or District resident who believes s/he has been discriminated against. The purpose of such a meeting is to (1) explain this POLICY and PROCEDURE, and (2) provide information that is in the District's possession which the person is legally entitled to receive.

Filing of Complaint

1. The complainant shall sign a written complaint and file it with the Title IX/ Affirmative Action Coordinator (1) within 300 days after the alleged act(s) occurred or (2) within 300 days of the last occurrence of an ongoing condition. The Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator is located at the District Administration Office, 545 West Dayton Street, Madison, WI 53703 (Telephone: 663-1530).
2. A complaint shall be deemed filed on the date received if delivered, or on the date postmarked if addressed by mail.
3. The Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator shall send to the complainant a written acknowledgment of the receipt of the complaint as soon as practicable, but within ten working days.
4. The Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator shall establish a complaint file. The file shall contain all documents pertinent to the complaint. The file should include, but is not limited to (1) the complaint, (2) documents compiled as part of the investigation, and (3) a statement of resolution.
   1. In cases where the complainant is not satisfied with the District's decision and requests a reconsideration of said decision, the District will provide the complainant with a copy of the investigative report. In instances where the investigative report contains personal or confidential subject matter, the District may refuse to make available the investigative report, but will provide a synopsis of the report excluding personal or confidential materials.
5. The Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator will give or send every complainant a copy of a prepared statement outlining the complainant's rights and options under applicable local, state and federal antidiscrimination laws. The information will include access to administrative agencies (EOC, DWD, OCR, EEOC, etc.). This information is intended to assist the complainant and is not all inclusive. The statement will advise the complainant to seek assistance in determining any of her/his rights by contacting the enforcement agencies or her/his lawyer.

Confidentiality and Recrimination

1. It is the POLICY of the District to keep the identity of the complainant confidential unless there are compelling reasons to disclose such identity. If there are compelling reasons to disclose the identity of the complainant, then the complainant shall be asked if s/he wants her/his identity disclosed. If the complainant does not want her/his identity disclosed, then the identity of the complainant shall be kept confidential. Should the complainant wish to keep her/his identity confidential, and should it become impossible to process or investigate the complaint as a result of the complainant not disclosing her/his identity, then the complaint may be dismissed.
2. No District employee shall attempt to restrain, interfere with, coerce, discriminate, or take reprisal action against the complainant(s) and their witnesses during or after the presentation, processing, and resolution of a complaint.

Informal Complaint Resolution

1. The District shall provide an opportunity for a resolution of the complaint on an informal basis after the complaint has been filed.
2. For the informal resolution of a complaint, the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator shall act as a facilitator if the complainant wishes to resolve the matter short of a full investigation. The District shall request the person who is alleged to be discriminating to seek a solution of the matter on an informal basis and to respond to the complainant within 20 working days.
3. If the alleged discriminating employee chooses not to respond to the request for an informal complaint resolution, a formal investigation will be conducted unless otherwise agreed to by the complainant and the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator.
4. If the complainant is satisfied with the response to the request for an informal complaint resolution and an informal resolution of the complaint is arrived at, the terms of such resolution shall be reduced to writing and made a part of the complaint file. If the complainant is not satisfied with the response, the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator shall proceed with the investigation.

Investigation

1. The District shall provide a prompt, complete, independent, and impartial investigation of the complaint. In most cases, the investigation will be conducted by the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator. In some cases, the investigation may be conducted by an investigative team or outside consultant. The investigative team may consist of the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator, the Affirmative Action Officer, the Title IX Officer, the Director of Labor Relations, and the Legal Counsel. In all cases the investigation shall be conducted in conjunction with the Legal Counsel and/or the Director of Labor Relations.
2. The investigation shall include a thorough review of the circumstance under which the alleged discrimination occurred and any policies and practices related to the situation. The investigation may include the review of various documents and information acquired during the investigation, which may include, but is not limited to, the response of the alleged discriminating employee, written or oral statements from witnesses, copies of or extracts from records, policy statements, on-site visit, or regulations of the District.

Determination and Appeal

1. After the investigation has been completed, the investigator shall inform the Superintendent or Superintendent designee of her/his determination of the complaint. The Superintendent or Superintendent's designee shall inform the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator of the District position on such determination of the complaint, and the Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee shall communicate in writing such determination of the complaint to the complainant and respondent(s) within 90 days from the time the complaint is filed, unless an extension is agreed to by both parties.
2. After the complainant receives the Superintendent or Superintendent designee's written determination of the District's position, the complainant or respondent may request a reconsideration of the District's position. The reconsideration request must be filed within twenty (20) working days after receipt of the determination. The written request for reconsideration must contain a statement as to why the complainant or respondent is not satisfied with the decision. The Superintendent or Superintendent's designee will send the complainant or respondent a written acknowledgment within twenty (20) days after the Superintendent receives the reconsideration request.
3. If the complaint was filed pursuant to Wisconsin Statute s. 118.13, the Superintendent or Superintendent's designee will include in her/his letter to the complainant the fact that the complainant has a right to appeal the decision to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The complainant has thirty (30) days from the time s/he receives the Superintendent or Superintendent's designee's decision to appeal to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Notification of Nondiscrimination Policy and Complaint Procedure

Notices shall be given annually of the School District's Nondiscrimination Policy and Complaint Procedure to students, parents, employees, applicants seeking employment, unions and professional organizations holding agreements with the District, and the community.

Notification - Nondiscrimination Policy

The following people have annual responsibility in the notification process:

1. Each PRINCIPAL will include notification in the first issue of each year of the school newsletter.
2. The Administrator who is responsible for disseminating public information will annually provide public notice of the District's Nondiscrimination Policy.
3. The Director Of Human Resources will notify all persons seeking employment by posting the POLICY and including a statement of equal opportunity employment employer on job applications.
4. The ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR BUSINESS SERVICES will notify vendors seeking to do business with the District.
5. The Director of Labor Relations will notify all unions and professional organizations holding agreements with the District.
6. ALL PERSONS who publish major publications will include the following statement of nondiscrimination on the title or cover page of each publication:

   "The Madison Metropolitan School District does not discriminate in its education programs, related activities (including School-Community Recreation), and employment practices as applicable to local, state, and federal laws."

7. The TITLE IX AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OFFICERS will distribute pamphlets which provide information about affirmative action and sexual harassment to employees.
8. The TITLE IX OFFICER will distribute material which provides information about Title IX and Wisconsin Statute 118.13.

Notification of Complaint Procedure

1. The TITLE IX/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COORDINATOR will provide notices of the complaint procedure to be posted in all administration departments, schools, and student lounge areas.

Notification of Nondiscrimination Policy and Complaint Procedure

The following people have annual responsibility in the notification process:

1. The TITLE IX/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COORDINATOR will include information about the complaint procedures with the Nondiscrimination Policy which is to be published annually in the Staff News.
2. Each PRINCIPAL will annually include information about the complaint procedure along with the Nondiscrimination Policy statement in the first issue of the school newsletter, and in the pupil and staff handbooks, course selection handbooks, and other published materials distributed to the public describing school activities and opportunities.
3. The Administrator responsible for disseminating public information for the District will annually provide public notice along with the Nondiscrimination Policy the name, address, and telephone number of the Title IX/Affirmative Action Coordinator and the complaint procedure. The notice shall be a Class I legal notice under Ch. 985, Stats.

Evaluation

1. The District will evaluate the status of nondiscrimination and equality of educational opportunity in the School District at least once every five years in accordance with the schedule established by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
2. The TITLE IX/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COORDINATOR will monitor the annual nondiscrimination notification process.
3. The TITLE IX/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COORDINATOR will file with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction the annual compliance report including the name of the designated employee to receive complaints and the number of complaints received during the year, a description of each complaint, and its status.

10/04/04

Last Updated: Tue Feb 21 07:21:48 2006
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