Harassment of Students Prohibited
Discrimination, including harassment, is prohibited in the Wilmette Public Schools. No person,
including a School District employee or agent, or student shall harass, intimidate, or bully
a student, on the basis of actual or perceived: race; color; national origin; military status;
unfavorable discharge status from military service; sex, sexual orientation; gender identity;
gender related identity or expression; ancestry; age; religion; physical or mental disability;
order of protection status; status of being homeless; actual or potential marital or parental status,
including pregnancy; physical appearance; socioeconomic status; academic status; association with
a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual or perceived characteristics; or
any other distinguishing characteristic. The District will not tolerate harassing, intimidating conduct,
or bullying whether verbal, physical, sexual, or visual, that affects the tangible benefits of education,
that unreasonably interferes with a student’s educational performance, or that creates an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive educational environment. Examples of prohibited conduct include name-calling,
using derogatory slurs, stalking, sexual violence, causing psychological harm, threatening or causing
physical harm, threatened or actual destruction of property, or wearing or possessing items depicting
or implying hatred or prejudice of one of the characteristics stated above.
Discrimination and Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color and National Origin and Retaliation Prohibited from 105 ILCS 5/22-95(b)
Discrimination, including harassment, based on race, color, or national origin is prohibited. Examples of conduct that may constitute discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of this policy include, but are not limited to:
- Issuing more severe and/or more frequent discipline to a student based on the student’s race, color, or national origin.
- Denying a student access to specific courses, extracurricular activities, or other educational opportunities based on the student’s race, color, or national origin.
- Using racial or ethnic slurs or stereotypes.
- Offensive or derogatory remarks about a person’s perceived race, color, or national origin.
- Racially-motivated threats or attacks.
Students are encouraged to promptly report claims or incidences of discrimination or harassment based on race, color, or national origin pursuant to the Reporting Procedures in this policy.
District students who are determined to have engaged in conduct prohibited under this policy may be subject to remedial action and/or disciplinary action, up to and including suspension and/or expulsion.
Retaliation against any person for bringing complaints, participating in the complaint process, or otherwise providing information about discrimination or harassment based on race, color, or national origin is prohibited. Individuals engaging in retaliation in violation of this policy may be disciplined, up to and including suspension and/or expulsion.
If the District fails to take necessary corrective action to stop discrimination or harassment based on race, color, or national origin, further relief may be available through the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) or the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Contact information for the IDHR is as follows:
DHR.Illinois.gov
(312) 814-6200 (Chicago)
(217) 785-5100 (Springfield)
Prevention and Response Program for Discrimination and Harassment Based on Race, Color, and National Origin
In addition, the Superintendent or designee shall establish procedures for responding to complaints of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin and retaliation, which shall include procedures which:
- Reduce or remove, to the extent practicable, barriers to reporting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation;
- Permit any person who reports or is the victim of an incident of alleged discrimination, harassment, or retaliation to be accompanied by a support person of choice (who must comply with District policies and rules) when making a report;
- Permit anonymous reporting, except that an anonymous report may not be the sole basis of disciplinary action under this policy;
- Offer remedial interventions or take such disciplinary actions as may be appropriate on a case-by-case basis; and
- May offer, but not require or unduly influence, a person who reports or is the victim of an incident of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation the option to resolve allegations directly with the alleged offender.
The procedures may not cause a person who reports or is a victim of an incident of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation to suffer adverse consequences as a result of a report of, investigation of, or a response to the incident.
Sexual Harassment Prohibited
The District shall provide an educational environment free of verbal, physical, or other conduct or communications constituting harassment on the basis of sex as defined and otherwise prohibited by state and federal law. See policies 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure, and 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure.
Making a Report or Complaint
Students are encouraged to promptly report claims or incidences of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation in violation of this policy to the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Building Principal, Assistant Building Principal, Dean of Students, a Complaint Manager, or any employee with whom the student is comfortable speaking. A student may choose to report to an employee of the student’s same gender.
The Superintendent shall insert into this policy the names, office addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the District’s current Nondiscrimination Coordinator and Complaint Managers. The Nondiscrimination Coordinator also serves as the District’s Title IX Coordinator.
Nondiscrimination Coordinator/Title IX Coordinator: |
Name: |
Heather Glowacki |
Address: |
615 Locust Rd., Wilmette, IL 60091 |
Email |
[email protected] |
Telephone: |
847-512-6003 |
Complaint Managers |
Name: |
Kristin Swanson |
Tony DeMonte |
Address: |
615 Locust Rd., Wilmette, IL 60091 |
615 Locust Rd., Wilmette, IL 60091 |
Email |
[email protected] |
[email protected] |
Telephone: |
847-512-6004 |
847-512-6007 |
Investigation Process
Any District employee who receives a report or complaint of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation in violation of this policy must promptly forward the report or complaint to the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or a Complaint Manager. Any employee who fails to promptly comply may be disciplined, up to and including discharge.
Reports and complaints of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation will be confidential to the greatest extent practicable, subject to the District’s duty to investigate and maintain an educational environment that is productive, respectful, and free of unlawful discrimination, including harassment.
For any report or complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of sex that, if true, would implicate Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.), the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or designee shall process the complaint pursuant to policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure.
For any other alleged student discrimination or harassment that does not require action under policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or a Complaint Manager or designee shall consider whether an investigation under policies 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure, and/or 7:190, Student Behavior, should be initiated. Should an investigation be deemed appropriate, the investigation procedures of the relevant policy or policies will be applied.
Reports That Involve Alleged Incidents of Sexual Abuse of a Child by School Personnel
An alleged incident of sexual abuse is an incident of sexual abuse of a child, as defined in 720 ILCS 5/11-9.1A(b), that is alleged to have been perpetrated by school personnel, including a school vendor or volunteer, that occurred: on school grounds during a school activity; or outside of school grounds or not during a school activity.
Any complaint alleging an incident of sexual abuse shall be processed and reviewed according to policy 5:90, Abused and Neglected Child Reporting. In addition to reporting the suspected abuse, the complaint may also be processed under policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure, or policy 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure.
Enforcement
Any District student who is determined, after an investigation, to have engaged in conduct prohibited by this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to, suspension and expulsion consistent with the policy 7:190. Any person making a knowingly false accusation regarding prohibited conduct will likewise be subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to, suspension and expulsion consistent with the behavior policy.
Retaliation Prohibited
Retaliation against any person for bringing complaints or providing information about discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation in violation of this policy is prohibited (see policies 2:260, Uniform Grievance Procedure, and 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedure).
Students should report allegations of retaliation to the Building Principal, an administrator, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, and/or a Complaint Manager.
Adopted: April 6, 1998
Revised: January 19, 1999; January 23, 2012; September 26, 2016; June 18, 2018; December 16, 2019; August 24, 2020; April 25, 2022; September 23, 2024
Reviewed: June 12, 2023
Legal Reference:
20 U.S.C. §1681 et seq., Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; 34 C.F.R. Part 106.
29 U.S.C. §791 et seq., Rehabilitation Act of 1973; 34 C.F.R. Part 104.
42 U.S.C. §2000d, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 34 C.F.R. Part 100.
105 ILCS 5/10-20.12, 5/10-22.5, 5/10-23.13, 5/27-1, and 5/27-23.7.
775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq., Illinois Human Rights Act.
23 Ill.Admin.Code §1.240 and Part 200.
Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629 (1999).
Franklin v. Gwinnett Co. Public Schs., 503 U.S. 60 (1992).
Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent Sch. Dist., 524 U.S. 274 (1998).
West v. Derby Unified Sch. Dist. No. 260, 206 F.3d 1358 (10th Cir. 2000).