中国教育学会教育学分会德育学术委员会The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on OCTOBER 14, 2014 that it has
entered into an agreement with California’s Downey Unified School District to
resolve a complaint about the harassment and discriminatory treatment of a
transgender student. The complaint alleged that the District discriminated
against a transgender student by failing to respond adequately to complaints
that the student was subjected to verbal harassment by peers and that staff
at the student’s school disciplined her for wearing make-up, discouraged her from speaking about her gender identity with classmates
and suggested that she transfer to another school.
“Our federal civil rights laws protect all students from sex-based discrimination and harassment,” said Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant
secretary for civil rights. “I commend the Downey Unified School District for
entering into this agreement to ensure that each of its students, including
transgender students and students who do not conform to stereotyped notions
of masculinity or femininity, can learn in a safe, educational environment.”
Prior to the conclusion of OCR’s investigation, the District requested to
resolve this complaint through a voluntary agreement. Under the terms of the
voluntary agreement, the District will ensure that gender nonconforming and
transgender students can participate fully in the District’s programs and
activities in a safe, educational environment.
The District committed to take the following actions:
l Engage a consultant with expertise on child and adolescent gender
identity,including experience with discrimination against gender
nonconforming and transgender students, to support and assist the District
with implementing the provisions of the agreement;
l Work with its consultant to ensure a school climate free of harassment by
incorporating age-appropriate information for students on gender identity,
gender-based discrimination and harassment;
l Continue to treat the student the same as other female students in all
respects in the education programs and activities offered by the District,
including access to sex-designated facilities for female students;
l Notify the student and the complainant that they may request that the
District develop a Student Success Plan to ensure the student has equal
access and opportunity to participate in all programs and activities, and is
otherwise protected from gender-based discrimination at school;
l Ensure that the student is not disciplined for acting or appearing in a
manner that does not conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity or
femininity;
l Remove all discipline imposed on the student during the 2011˗12 school
year from the student’s records;
l Review District policies, procedures and regulations applicable to student
participation in all programs and activities offered by the District and
make necessary revisions to ensure that all students, including students who
do not conform to sex stereotypes, are provided an equal opportunity to
participate in all such programs and activities in a manner that does not
discriminate based on sex, gender identity or gender expression;
l Develop an implementation guide for administrators, faculty and staff
that addresses how the District’s gender-based discrimination policies apply
to transgender and gender nonconforming students;
l Conduct mandatory training on issues related to gender nonconformance and
genderbased harassment for District and schoolsite administrators who have
the responsibility of investigating or supervising the investigation of
gender-based harassment complaints and implementing other anti-discrimination policies and procedures regarding transgender and gender
nonconforming students; and
l Conduct annual school climate assessments, including a student and parent
survey, to evaluate the effectiveness of the District’s bullying and
harassment prevention efforts.
OCR will closely monitor implementation of the agreement to ensure that the
commitments made are implemented in a timely, effective manner.
A copy of the resolution letter can be found here. A copy of the agreement
can be found here.
OCR’s mission is to ensure equal access to education and promote
educational excellence throughout the nation through the vigorous
enforcement of civil rights. The office is responsible for enforcing federal
civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination by educational institutions
on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, sex and age, as
well as the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act of 2001. Additional
information about OCR is available here.