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Model and Sample School and District Policies and Procedures This page was last updated on 12/02/09. If you know of errors please click here to let us know.

Sample Policies

Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students—Ensuring Equity and Nondiscrimination: REF-1557 - Los Angeles California Unified School District, Office of the General Counsel, February 15, 2005 (pdf format)

San Francisco Unified School District Trans Policy R5163 - California Law Prohibits Gender-Based Discrimination in Public Schools - April 21, 2004 (pdf format)

Bullying Report -- scroll to the end for Best Practice examples from small and large districts.

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State Laws

Washington State's law regarding Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Prevention Policies  (RCW 28A.300.285.htm)

 

California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 (AB 537)

Senate Bill 2: provides the text of  as passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2007. These changes will become effective January 1, 2008.  The enforcement agency will be the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries, Civil Rights Division. The bill includes:

SECTION 20. ORS 179.750 is amended to read:
179.750. (1) Discrimination may not be made in the admission, accommodation, care, education or treatment of any person in a state institution because the person does or does not contribute to the cost of the care.
(2) Discrimination may not be made in the provision of or access to educational facilities and services and recreational facilities and services to any person in the state institutions enumerated in ORS 420.005 or Department of Corrections institutions as defined in ORS 421.005 on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or marital status [or national origin] of the person.
This subsection does not require combined domiciliary facilities at the
state institutions to which it applies.

SECTION 23. ORS 338.125 is amended to read:
338.125. (1) Student enrollment in a public charter school shall be voluntary. All students who reside within the school district where the public charter school is located are eligible for enrollment at a public charter school. If the number of applications from students who reside within the school district exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building, the public charter school shall select students through an equitable lottery selection process. However, after a public charter school has been in operation for one or more years, the public charter school may give priority for admission to students:
(a) Who were enrolled in the school in the prior year; or (b) Who have siblings who are presently enrolled in the school and who were enrolled in the school in the prior year.
(2)(a) If space is available a public charter school may admit students who do not reside in the school district in which the public charter school is located.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, if a public charter school offers any online courses as part of the curriculum of the school, then 50 percent or more of the students who attend the public charter school must reside in the school district in which thepublic charter school is located.
(3) A public charter school may not limit student admission based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, [race, religion,] disability, [gender,] income level, proficiency in the English language or athletic ability, but may limit admission to students within a given age group or grade level.
(4) A public charter school may conduct fund-raising activities. 
However, a public charter school [shall] may not require a student to participate in fund-raising activities as a condition of admission to the public charter school.

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From OSPI (Washington State's department of education) Student Conduct and Discipline:

Bullying/Harassment

• Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying - Model Policy  (in Word document format)
• Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Sample Policy 3207 (in Word document format)
• Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Sample Procedure 3207P (in Word document format)
• Threat Notification Policy (in Word document format)
• Threat Notification Procedure (in Word document format)

Information and links to information on legislation, resources and more on OSPI's Student Conduct and Discipline webpage:  http://www.k12.wa.us/SafetyCenter/LawEnforcement/StudentDiscipline.aspx

The Coalition is extremely grateful to all the individuals and groups -- including some of our members -- who worked to create OSPI's model policy and procedure. And adopting it would be a great improvement for many districts. The policy is really quite strong. The Coalition realizes, however, that PTAs and other community activists could really use suggestions to help their districts hold themselves to even higher standards for procedures than OSPI's model procedure sets, standards to which some other states have suggested districts hold themselves. That is what this item would model:

Safe Schools Coalition's amended OSPI model bullying/harassment procedure  (pdf file) - suggesting that districts hold themselves to a somewhat higher standard than the minimum suggested by OSPI

Other states' model policies -- See the appendices of Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crime: A Guide for Schools. It also offers practical advice for schools boards and administrators from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights and the National Association of Attorneys General, 1999. Hard copies free or available online. Phone: 1-877-4ED-Pubs 

Papers and pamphlets about School and District Policies and Procedures:

• Q&A: Adding Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity to Discrimination & Harassment Policies in Schools : from the ACLU

• Know the Issues: Harassment, Privacy, Freedom of Speech, and Prom: from the ACLU 

• Balancing Students' Rights: A Child's Right to Free Speech and Another Child's Right to a Harassment-Free Learning Environment: a paper available online by Doug Honig, ACLU of Washington  (pdf file) 

• A Guide to Effective Statewide Laws/Policies: Preventing Discrimination Against LGBT Students in K-12 Schools: from GLSEN  (pdf file) 

• Back to School Kit: from Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund 

• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Foster Care Have Rights 

• Making School Safe for Everyone: A Vancouver (British Columbia) School Board publication in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, French, Korean, and Punjabi. (pdf format)

• Stopping the Anti-Gay Abuse of Students in Public Schools: A Legal Perspective

• Vancouver (British Columbia) School Board LGBTTITQ policy: The Board of School Trustees (the "Board") is committed to establishing and maintaining a safe and positive learning environment for all students and employees including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirit, or who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
  and Vancouver BC School Board Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Two-Spirit, Questioning POLICY (Feb. 2004). (pdf format)

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