Feds say Paterson school district failed to protect students from harassment, abuse
By: Joe Malinconico
Paterson Press
PATERSON - The city school district feel short in protecting students form sexual harassment and assault during a five-year period starting in 2017, federal officials announced Monday. [12/02/2024]
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The review by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights covered allegations of sexual misconduct by Paterson district employees and by students.
..... The Office for Civil Rights office cited four instances in which its staff learned through interviews with district employees of sexual harassment allegations involving Paterson school staff members and students, even though the district reported getting no complaints of such misbehavior.
..... The review also covered several instances of student-on-student sexual harassment that went unreported on the district's files.
..... A press release issued by the U.S. Education Department said the Paterson district failed to offer students supportive measures and failed to notify them that such measures were available.
..... The Office for Civil Rights found that the district did not fulfill federal requirements for responding to allegations of sexual harassment systematically failed to coordinate its response to sexual harassment through a designated coordinator and did not adopt procedures for handling sex discrimination complaints.
..... The agency cited Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sexual harassment and discrimination in education programs.
..... "These multiple failures led to the district's insufficient responses to numerous complaints of sexual harassment, leaving district students vulnerable to the sex discrimination in school that Title IX forbids," said the federal press release. "OCR further identified a compliance concern related to required district record maintenance during this time period, as well."
..... Paterson Board of Education members said they had no idea that such a federal review was taking place. District administration officials could not be reached for comment.
..... As a result of the federal review, the Paterson school district agreed to follow a 15-page compliance agreement. among there requirements are:
* Reviewing prior reports of student-to-student and employee-to-student sexual harassment to determine whether further distinct action is needed to provide an equitable resolution of the incidents.
* Training employees on how to respond to reports and complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment.
* Creating a record-keeping system for reports, complaints and investigations of sexual harassment.
* Providing annual age-appropriate training to all students about how to recognize and report sexual harassment and receive supportive measures and remedies.
* Administering annual climate surveys of parents, students and district employees with respect to sexual harassment in district schools.
* Ensuring that the district fulfills its title IX obligations when law enforcement is involved in responding to sexual harassment of students.