Managing your school risk includes keeping on top bullying trends, legal cases, and, of course, your school’s personal incidents. Certainly, as the holidays near, it’s not a topic many of us want to sink into when we’d rather be celebrating the joy that the season brings. But, perhaps a recent court ruling will also shed some hope and light—U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadmueller recently decided in favor of a private school, stating, “our greater attention to bullying must also develop a more refined definition.”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently reported on a federal bullying case against St. Mary’s Springs Academy. Parents of a middle school student brought charges against the school for their son's treatment, which they said included months of racial slurs, unwanted touching, Facebook harassment, and teasing about his perceived sexual orientation. The parents reported that the bullying began in 2011, and that the school had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to cease the bullying behaviors.
The Wisconsin federal judge dismissed the sex and race bias suit, ruling “deliberate indifference.” Stadmueller was quoted, “There will always be spats between children. Certain children will always say and do nasty things to one another. Try as they might, school officials will not be able to stop this, either, even if courts such as this one were to begin holding schools liable when their students engaged in reprehensible behavior. No matter how many judgments courts may hand out, the often cruel nature of children will still prevail over newly propagated rules and instructions.”
Parents say the bullying began the end of their son’s sixth grade year after he tried out for the football team. Teammates began with racial slurs, mocking his Asian descent, and escalated to physical touching and shoving. The boy’s mother reported the incidents to the Assistant Principal, Erin Flood, who then interviewed the students named and filed a Turning Around Bullying Behaviors (TABB) report.
School officials reported never seeing bullying behaviors firsthand, but still responded to the family’s frequent calls and communication of events. St. Mary’s investigated all claims and responded by presenting a presentation on bullying awareness to the boy’s class, and having the coach address matters both to the team as a whole and to the suspected ringleader.
As the situations continued to escalate and several acts of violence were reported, as well as a parent meeting where the family left feeling attacked, the family asked the school for a safety plan for their son. St. Mary’s declined.
After the school declined, the family withdrew their son and filed suit.
For the family’s claim to be valid under Title VI and Title IX they had to prove:
- St. Mary’s received federal funding (simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayer of all races contribute, not be spent in any fashion, which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or results in racial discrimination);
- St. Mary’s exhibited hostility to race or gender; and
- St. Mary’s was aware of the bullying incidents (hostility) and did not take appropriate actions to correct behaviors—responded to claims with deliberate indifference.
There are good lessons to be taken away from this. The court did not find that St. Mary’s acted with deliberate indifference. Why? Because the school clearly acted and reacted to all claims made and attempted to rectify the situation. You can read more of the details of the case in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Obviously, it is important to have a clear policy on bullying for both students and faculty and staff, as well as having a well thought out risk management plan that includes an action plan for handling bullying.
Additional ISM articles of interest ISM Monthly Update for Risk Managers Vol. 2 No. 2 Tips for Students: Managing Bullying
ISM Monthly Update for Risk Managers Vol. 3 No. 2 Fight Bullying With an Acceptable Use Policy
Private School News Vol. 10 No. 5 Cyberbullies Need Protection, Too
Private School News Vol. 1o No. 7 School Shooting Lawsuit Raises Risk Management Concerns
Additional ISM articles of interest for Gold Consortium members
I&P Vol. 36 No. 3 Addressing Bullying and Sexual Misconduct
