7.1 Nondiscrimination Policy and Statement

San Francisco Unified School District prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, sexual harassment and bullying based on actual or perceived  race, color, ancestry, nationality,  national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, ethnicity, age, religion, marital status, pregnancy, parental status, reproductive health decision making, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, veteran or military status, or genetic information, or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics or any other basis protected by law or regulation, in its educational program(s) or employment. For questions or complaints, contact Title IX Coordinator and Equity Officer:

Keasara (Kiki) Williams, Equity Officer

Eva Kellogg, Title IX Coordinator

Office of Equity, 555 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94102

415-355-7334 or equity@sfusd.edu

If you have concerns or complaints related to Section 504, you should contact your school site principal and/or District Section 504 Coordinator:

Michele McAdams

1515 Quintara St., San Francisco, CA, 94116

(415) 242-2615 or mcadamsd@sfusd.edu.

See the full Handbook and downloadable, translated PDFs at sfusd.edu/Handbook.

Board Policy 5145.3

Administrative Regulation 5145.3

Nondiscrimination/Harassment  

This Administrative Regulation applies to the San Francisco Unified School District and the County Office of Education.

The District designates the individual(s) identified below as the employee(s) responsible for coordinating the District's efforts to comply with state and federal civil rights laws, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and to answer inquiries regarding the District's nondiscrimination policies. The individual(s) shall also serve as the compliance officer(s) specified in AR 1312.3 - Uniform Complaint Procedures as the responsible employee to handle complaints regarding unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying, based on actual race, color, ancestry, national origin, nationality, immigration status, ethnicity, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, pregnancy, reproductive health decision making, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status; the perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. The coordinator/compliance officer(s) may be contacted at:  (Education Code 234.1; 5 CCR 4621)

Keasara Williams, Executive Director of the Office of Equity and/or Compliance Officer

Eva Kellogg, Title IX Coordinator

555 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor

Telephone:  (415) 355-7334

Fax:  (415) 355-7333

Email:  equity@sfusd.edu 

If you have concerns or complaints related to Section 504, you should contact your school site principal and/or District Section 504 Coordinator: 

Michele McAdams

1515 Quintara St.

San Francisco, CA 94116

Telephone: (415) 242-2615 or

Email: mcadamsd@sfusd.edu

Measures to Prevent Discrimination

To prevent unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, retaliation, and bullying, of students at District schools or in school activities and to ensure equal access of all students to the educational program, the Superintendent or designee shall implement the following measures:

1. Publicize the District's nondiscrimination policy and related complaint procedures including the coordinator/compliance officers’ contact information, to students, parents/guardians, employees, volunteers, and the general public and post them on the District's web site and other prominent locations and providing easy access to them through District-supported communications. 
2. Post the district's policies and procedures prohibiting discrimination, harassment, student sexual harassment, intimidation, bullying, and cyberbullying, including a section on social media bullying that includes all of the references described in Education Code 234.6 as possible forums for social media, in a prominent location on the district's web site in a manner that is easily accessible to parents/guardians and students  (Education Code 234.6)
3. Post the definition of sex discrimination and harassment as described in Education Code 230, including the rights set forth in Education Code 221.8, in a prominent location on the district's web site in a manner that is easily accessible to parents/guardians and students  (Education Code 234.6)
4. Post in a prominent and conspicuous location on the District website in a manner that is easily accessible to parents/guardians and students information regarding Title IX prohibitions against discrimination based on a student's sex, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, and parental status, including the following: (Education Code 221.6, 221.61, 234.6)
   1. The name and contact information of the District's Title IX coordinator, including the phone number and email address
   2. The rights of students and the public and the responsibilities of the District under Title IX, including a list of rights as specified in Education Code 221.8 and web links to information about those rights and responsibilities located on the web sites of the Office for Equal Opportunity and the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
   3. A description of how to file a complaint of noncompliance with Title IX which shall include:
      1. An explanation of the statute of limitations within which a complaint must be filed after an alleged incident of discrimination has occurred and how a complaint may be filed beyond the statute of limitations
      2. An explanation of how the complaint will be investigated and how the complainant may further pursue the complaint, including web links to this information on the OCR's website
      3. A web link to the OCR complaints form and the contact information for the office, including the phone number and email address for the office
   4. A link to the Title IX information included on the California Department of Education's (CDE) web site.
5. Post a link to statewide CDE compiled resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying and to their families. Such resources shall be posted in a prominent location on the district's website in a manner that is easily accessible to parents/guardians and students. (Education Code 234.5, 234.6) 
6. Provide to students a handbook that contains age-appropriate information that clearly describes the District's nondiscrimination policy, procedures for filing a complaint, and resources available to students who feel that they have been the victim of any such behavior. (Education Code 234.1)
7. Annually notify all students and parents/guardians of the District's nondiscrimination policy, including its responsibility to provide a safe, nondiscriminatory school environment for all students. The notice shall inform students and parents/guardians that they may request to meet with the compliance officer to determine how best to accommodate or resolve concerns that may arise from the District's implementation of its nondiscrimination policies. The notice shall also inform all students and parents/guardians that, to the extent possible, the District will address any individual student's interests and concerns in private.

8. The Superintendent or designee shall ensure that all students and parents/guardians, including students and parents/guardians with limited English proficiency, are notified of how to access the relevant information provided in the District's nondiscrimination policy and related complaint procedures, notices, and forms in a language they can understand.

   If 15 percent or more of students enrolled in a particular District school speak a single primary language other than English, the District's policy, regulation, forms, and notices concerning nondiscrimination shall be translated into that language in accordance with Education Code 234.1 and 48985.  In all other instances, the District shall ensure meaningful access to all relevant information for parents/guardians with limited English proficiency.

9. Provide to students, employees, volunteers, and parents/guardians age-appropriate training and information regarding the District's nondiscrimination policy; what constitutes prohibited discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or bullying; how and to whom a report of an incident should be made; and how to guard against segregating or stereotyping students when providing instruction, guidance, supervision, or other services to them.  Such training and information shall include guidelines the district may use to provide a discrimination-free environment for all district students.
10. At the beginning of each school year, inform school employees that any employee who witnesses any act of unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying, against a student is required to intervene if it is safe to do so. (Education Code 234.1)
11. At the beginning of each school year, inform each principal or designee of the District's responsibility to provide appropriate assistance or resources to protect students' privacy rights and ensure their safety from threatened or potentially discriminatory behavior. 

Enforcement of District Policy

The Superintendent or designee shall take appropriate actions to reinforce BP 5145.3 - Nondiscrimination/Harassment.  As needed, these actions may include any of the following:

1. Removing vulgar or offending graffiti
2. Providing training to students, staff, and parents/guardians about how to recognize unlawful discrimination, how to report it or file a complaint, and how to respond
3. Disseminating and/or summarizing the District's policy and regulation regarding unlawful discrimination
4. Consistent with the laws regarding the confidentiality of student and personnel records, communicating the school's response to students, parents/guardians, and the community the school’s response plan to unlawful discrimination or harassment
5. Taking appropriate disciplinary action against students, employees, and anyone determined to have engaged in wrongdoing in violation of district policy, including any student who is found to have filed a complaint of discrimination that they knew was not true 

Process for Initiating and Responding to Complaints

Any student who feels that they have been subjected to unlawful discrimination described above or in District policy is strongly encouraged to immediately contact the compliance officer, principal, or any other staff member.  In addition, any student who observes any such incident is strongly encouraged to report the incident to the compliance officer or principal, whether or not the alleged victim files a complaint.

Any school employee who observes an incident of unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or bullying, or to whom such an incident is reported shall report the incident to the compliance officer or principal within a school day, whether or not the alleged victim files a complaint.

Any school employee who witnesses an incident of unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or bullying, shall immediately intervene to stop the incident when it is safe to do so.  (Education Code 234.1)

When any report of unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or bullying, is submitted to or received by the principal or compliance officer, they shall inform the student or parent/guardian of the right to file a formal complaint pursuant to the provisions in AR 1312.3 - Uniform Complaint Procedures or, for complaints of sexual harassment that meet the federal Title IX definition, AR 5145.7 - Title IX Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedures.  

Any report of unlawful discrimination involving the principal, compliance officer, or any other person to whom the complaint would ordinarily be reported or filed shall instead be submitted to the Superintendent or designee who shall determine how the complaint will be investigated.  Even if the student chooses not to file a formal complaint, the principal or compliance officer shall implement immediate measures necessary to stop the discrimination and to ensure all students have access to the educational program and a safe school environment.

Upon receiving a complaint of discrimination, the compliance officer shall immediately investigate the complaint in accordance with the District's uniform complaint procedures specified in AR 1312.3.

Please refer to AR 5145.4 for Nondiscrimination/Harassment of Intersex, Nonbinary, Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.