- Introduction
The District is committed to providing a working and learning environment that is free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. The District shall promptly respond to concerns and complaints of unlawful discrimination and/or harassment; take action in response when unlawful discrimination and/or harassment is discovered; impose appropriate sanctions on offenders in a case-by-case manner; and protect the privacy of all those involved in unlawful discrimination and/or harassment complaints to the extent practical and appropriate under the circumstances. These privacy protections shall apply to the extent permitted by state or federal law or where personal safety is not an issue. Under certain circumstances, the complaint may be referred to law enforcement for investigation. The District has adopted the following procedures to promptly and fairly address concerns and complaints about unlawful discrimination and/or harassment. Complaints may be submitted verbally or in writing. When a complaint is made verbally to the Compliance Officer or additional information is required, a request will be made to the complaining party to complete a Complaint Intake Form to facilitate an investigation of the complaint. Copies of the Complaint Intake Form may be obtained from the Compliance Officer or on the District website.
- Definitions
- The term “Compliance Officer” means an employee designated by the Board of Education or the Superintendent to receive complaints of alleged unlawful discrimination and/or harassment. The Compliance Officer shall be identified by name, title, address, telephone number, and email address. See Exhibit AC-E-1. If the designated Compliance Officer is not qualified or is unable to act as such, the Superintendent or his/her designee shall designate District level administrator who shall serve until a successor is identified.
- The term “Aggrieved Individual” shall mean a student, the parents or guardians of a student under the age of 18 acting on behalf of a student, a student over the age of 18, an employee of the District, or member of the public who is directly affected by an alleged violation of district policies prohibiting unlawful discrimination or harassment.
- Compliance Officer’s Duties
The Compliance Officer shall be responsible for conducting a confidential investigation and coordinating all complaint procedures and processes for any alleged violation of federal or state statue or Board policy prohibiting unlawful discrimination and/or harassment, including violations of Title II (discrimination based upon disability), Title VI (discrimination based on race, color or national origin), Title IX (discrimination based on sex or marital status), and Section 504/ADA (discrimination based on disability) or under and any District policies prohibiting unlawful discrimination and/or harassment. The Compliance Officer’s duties shall include providing notice to students, parents/guardians of students, employees, and the general public concerning the compliance process, providing training as needed for District staff regarding the prohibition of discrimination and/or harassment in all District programs, activities, and employment practices, disseminating, upon request, information concerning the forms and procedures for the filing of complaints, ensuring the prompt investigation of all complaints, coordinating of investigative, appeal, and/or hearing procedures, and identifying and addressing any patterns or systemic problems that arise during the review of complaints. As necessary, the Compliance Officer may delegate any or all of the foregoing responsibilities to district level administrators.
- Complaint Procedure
An aggrieved individual who believes he or she has been subject to unlawful discrimination and/or harassment in violation of law and District policy is encouraged to promptly report the incident as provided in Board policy and this regulation. When appropriate to do so, reports received by teachers, counselors, principals, or other District employees may initially be investigated and informal resolution pursued at a building level. Notice of these reports shall be provided to the Compliance Officer. If the Compliance Officer is the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct, the complaint shall be forwarded to General Counsel for the District or his/her designee.Alternatively, any aggrieved individual may directly file, with the Compliance Officer, a complaint charging the District, another student, or any school employee with a violation of Title II, Title VI, Title IX or Section 504/ADA or with a violation of District policies prohibiting unlawful discrimination and/or harassment. Initial complaints may be made either verbally or in writing and shall describe with reasonable specificity, the nature of the complaint. When a complaint is made verbally to the Compliance Officer or additional information is required, a request will be made to the complaining party to complete a Complaint Intake Form to facilitate an investigation of the complaint. Copies of the Complaint Intake Form may be obtained from the Compliance Officer or on the District website.
All complaints shall include a detailed description of the alleged events, the dates the alleged events occurred, and the names of the parties involved, including any witnesses. The complaint shall be made as soon as possible after the incident.
Upon receiving a complaint, the Compliance Officer shall confer with the aggrieved individual and/or the alleged victim of the unlawful discrimination and/or harassment as soon as is reasonably possible, but no later than ten (10) school-days following the Compliance Officer’s receipt of the complaint (unless otherwise agreed), to obtain a clear understanding of the basis of the complaint and to discuss what action the aggrieved individual is seeking.
Within ten (10) school-days following the initial conferral with the aggrieved individual and/or the alleged victim, the Compliance Officer shall attempt to meet with the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct to obtain a response to the complaint. If the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct is a student, the meeting should include the student’s parents. Such person shall be informed of all allegations, which in the Compliance Officer’s judgment, are necessary to achieve a full and accurate disclosure of material information or to otherwise resolve the complaint.
At the initial meetings, the Compliance Officer shall explain the avenues for informal and formal action and provide a description of the complaint process. The Compliance Officer shall also explain that both the aggrieved individual/alleged victim and the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct have the right to exit the informal process and request a formal resolution of the matter at any time.
The Compliance Officer shall also explain that whether or not the individual files a formal complaint or otherwise requests action, the District is required by law to take steps to correct the unlawful discrimination, harassment and/or to prevent recurring unlawful discrimination and/or harassment or retaliation against anyone who makes a report or participates in an investigation. The Compliance Officer shall also explain that any request for confidentiality shall be honored so long as doing so does not preclude the District from responding effectively to the prohibited conduct and preventing future prohibited conduct.
- Informal Action
If the aggrieved individual and/or the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct requests that the matter be resolved in an informal manner and/or the Compliance Officer believes that the matter is suitable to such resolution, the Compliance Officer may attempt to resolve the matter informally through mediation, counseling, or other non-disciplinary means. If both parties feel a resolution has been achieved through the informal process, then no further compliance action must be taken. No party shall be compelled to resolve a complaint of unlawful discrimination or harassment informally and either party may request an end to the informal process at any time. Informal resolution shall not be used to process complaints against a school employee and shall not be used between students where the underlying offense involves sexual assault or another act of violence.
- Formal Action
If informal resolution is inappropriate, unavailable, or unsuccessful, the Compliance Officer shall promptly investigate the allegations to determine whether and/or to what extent, unlawful discrimination or harassment has occurred. The Compliance Officer may consider the following types of information in determining whether unlawful discrimination and/or harassment has occurred:
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- Statements by any witness to the alleged incident;
- Evidence about the relative credibility of the parties involved;
- Evidence relative to whether the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct has been found to have engaged in prohibited conduct against others;
- Evidence of the aggrieved individual’s and/or alleged victim’s reaction or change in behavior following the alleged prohibited conduct;
- Evidence about whether the aggrieved individual and/or alleged victim took action to protest the conduct;
- Evidence and witness statements or testimony presented by the parties involved;
- Other contemporaneous evidence; and/or
- Any other evidence deemed relevant by the Compliance Officer. In deciding whether conduct is a violation of law or policy, all relevant circumstances shall be considered by the Compliance Officer, including:
- The degree to which the conduct affected one or more student’s education or one or more employee’s work environment;
- The type, frequency and duration of the conduct;
- The identity of and relationship between the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct and the aggrieved individual and/or alleged victim;
- The number of individuals alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct and the number of aggrieved individuals/alleged victims;
- The ages of the individual alleged to have engaged in the prohibited conduct and the aggrieved individual and/or alleged victim;
- The size of the school or worksite, location of the incident, and context in which it occurred; and/or
- Other incidents at the school or worksite.
The Compliance Officer shall prepare a written report containing findings and recommendations, as appropriate, and submit the report to the Superintendent within forty-five (45) school-days following the Compliance Officer’s receipt of the complaint or within thirty (30) days following the termination of the informal resolution process, unless otherwise agreed. The Compliance Officer’s report shall be advisory and shall not bind the Superintendent or the District to any particular course of action or remedial measure. However, the report may be used by the Superintendent or other District administration officials as a basis for disciplinary or other appropriate action. Within ten (10) school-days of receiving the Compliance Officer’s findings and recommendations, the Superintendent or his/her designee shall determine any appropriate sanctions or other action deemed appropriate.
To the extent permitted by federal and state law, all parties, including the parents/guardians of all students involved, shall be notified in writing by the Superintendent or his/her designee of the final outcome of the investigation and all steps taken by the District to remedy the situation within ten (10) school-days following the Superintendent’s/designee’s determination.
- District Action
Whether or not a complaint is filed, the District shall take appropriate action to end the unlawful discrimination and/or harassment, to make the student or employee whole by restoring lost educational or employment opportunities, to prevent unlawful discrimination and/or harassment from recurring and to prevent retaliation against anyone that reports unlawful discrimination and/or harassment or participates in an unlawful discrimination and/or harassment investigation. If disciplinary action is recommended for a student or employee, that action shall proceed in accordance with applicable District policy. Remedial and/or disciplinary actions shall include measures designed to stop the unlawful discrimination and/or harassment, correct its negative impact on the aggrieved individual/alleged victim, and ensure that the unlawful discrimination and/or harassment does not recur, as applicable.
- Appeal/Hearing Process
Either the aggrieved individual/alleged victim or any individual alleged to have engaged in any prohibited conduct has the right to appeal any decision made by the Compliance Officer and request a hearing. This appeal/hearing procedure will not address the appropriateness of any disciplinary consequences which shall instead by governed by the Board’s discipline policies and procedures. Said appeal must be initiated with ten (10) school-days of receiving the Superintendent’s/designee’s notice of the final outcome. The hearing officer for the appeal will be a District level administrator designated by the Superintendent. The hearing shall be informal. A student shall be entitled to be represented by his/her parent(s) or by an attorney. An employee shall be entitled to be represented by an attorney or other representative of his/her choice. The aggrieved individual/alleged victim may appear at the hearing and shall be entitled to present testimony and other evidence. Formal rules of evidence shall not apply. The Compliance Officer or his/her designee may represent the district at the hearing and shall likewise be entitled to present testimony and other evidence. The hearing shall be closed to the public.
The hearing officer shall make a written recommendation to the Superintendent based on evidence presented at the administrative hearing. That recommendation will be submitted to the Superintendent no later than twenty (20) school-days following the conclusion of the hearing. Within ten (10) schools of receiving the hearing officer’s recommendations, the Superintendent or his/her designee shall determine any final action deemed appropriate.
Nothing contained herein shall be interpreted to confer upon any person the right to a hearing independent of this or another Board policy, administrative procedure, statute, rule, regulation or agreement expressly conferring such right. This process shall apply, unless the context otherwise requires and unless the requirements of another policy, procedure, statute, rule, regulation or agreement expressly contradicts with this process, in which event the terms of the contrary policy, procedure, law, rule, regulation or agreement shall govern.
Complaints regarding violations of Title VI, (race, national origin), Title IX, (sex/gender), Section 504/ADA, (handicap or disability), Racial Incidents and Harassment Against Students at Educational Institutions Policy (race, color, or national origin) may be filed directly with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 1244 North Speer Blvd., Suite 310, Denver, CO 80204. Complaints regarding violations of Title VII (discrimination in employment), the ADA (disability in employment), and the ADEA (prohibiting age discrimination in employment) may be filed directly with the Federal Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 303 E. 17th Ave., Suite 510, Denver, CO 80202, or the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1050, Denver, CO 80202.