As districts and BOCES conduct their annual reviews of their Codes of Conduct, they should be aware that their Codes of Conduct must be developed in collaboration with student, teacher, administrator, and parent organizations, as well as with school safety and other school personnel. Additionally, the Code of Conduct and any amendments to it can be adopted only after at least one public hearing that provides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students and other interested parties. The amended Code of Conduct must be approved by the school district’s board of education, chancellor, or other applicable governing body and the amendments must be filed with the Commissioner, in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner, no later than 30 days after their adoption. After the districts’ and BOCES’ Codes of Conduct are revised to comply with the requirements of the Dignity Act, the annual Code of Conduct review requirement will continue to ensure that each district’s and BOCES’ Code of Conduct remain current and reflective of the needs of their respective school communities.

Definitions

As districts and BOCES update their Code of Conducts as discussed above, they should include the following Dignity Act statutory definitions:

• School Property means in or within any building, structure, athletic playing field, playground, parking lot, or land contained within the real property boundary line of a public elementary or secondary school; or in or on a school bus (Education Law §11[1] and Vehicle and Traffic Law §142).

• School Bus means every motor vehicle owned by a public or governmental agency or private school and operated for the transportation of pupils, children of pupils, teachers and other persons acting in a supervisory capacity, to or from school or school activities, or, privately owned and operated for compensation for the transportation of pupils, children of pupils, teachers and other persons acting in a supervisory capacity to or from school or school activities (Education Law §11[1] and Vehicle and Traffic Law §142).

• School Function means a school-sponsored extra-curricular event or activity (Education §11[2]).

  • Disability means (a) a physical, mental or medical impairment resulting from anatomical, physiological, genetic or neurological conditions which prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques or (b) a record of such an impairment or (c) a condition regarded by others as such an impairment, provided, however, that in all provisions of this article dealing with employment, the term must be limited to disabilities which, upon the provision of reasonable accommodations, do not prevent the complainant from performing in a reasonable manner the activities involved in the job or occupation sought or held (Education Law §11[4] and Executive Law §292[21]).

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• Employee means any person receiving compensation from a school district or employee of a contracted service provider or worker placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, pursuant to title nine-B of article five of the Social Services Law, and consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of services to such district, its students or employees, directly or through contract, whereby such services performed by such person involve direct student contact (Education Law §§11[4] and 1125[3]).

• Sexual Orientation means actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality (Education Law §11[5]).

• Gender means actual or perceived sex and includes a person’s gender identity or expression (Education Law §11[6]).

  • Harassment means the creation of a hostile environment by conduct or by verbal threats, intimidation or abuse that has or would have the effect of unreasonably and substantially interfering with a student’s educational performance, opportunities or benefits, or mental, emotional or physical well- being; or conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse that reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a student to fear for his or her physical safety; such conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse includes but is not limited to conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse based on a person’s actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex (Education Law §11[7]).

  Moreover, from a practical standpoint, in addition to the Dignity Act requirements, districts and BOCES should consult with their attorneys to ensure that their Codes of Conduct and policies comply with federal civil rights laws and regulations enforced by the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, both of which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. Although the intent of these federal civil rights statutes and the Dignity Act are related to each other in some ways, their requirements and definitions are separate and distinct from one another. Thus, SED recommends that districts and BOCES, as well as charter schools, consult with their attorneys in developing their policies to make sure that they align with both state and federal law and regulatory requirements regarding discrimination and harassment.

  SED further recommends that districts, BOCES and charter schools review federal guidance on discrimination and harassment, including, but not limited to OCR’s Dear Colleague Letter regarding harassment and bullying (October 26, 2010), which can be found at:

  www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html

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2. Confront issues of discrimination and harassment or any situation that threatens the emotional or physical health or safety of any student, school employee or any person who is lawfully on school property or at a school function.

3. Addresspersonalbiasesthatmaypreventequaltreatmentofallstudentsinthe school or classroom setting.

4. Report incidents of discrimination and harassment that are witnessed or otherwise brought to a teacher’s attention in a timely manner.

Dignity Act Coordinator (DAC)

The Dignity Act also requires that at least one staff member at every school be thoroughly trained to handle human relations in the areas of race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender, and sex (Education Law §13[3]). This staff member should be referred to as the Dignity Act Coordinator (DAC).

Disciplinary and Remedial Consequences

The Dignity Act emphasizes the creation and maintenance of a positive learning environment for all students. In addition, the Dignity Act requires the development of measured, balanced and age-appropriate responses to the discrimination and harassment of students by students and/or employees on school property, including school functions, with remedies and procedures focusing on intervention and education. Such remedial responses should be included in the Code of Conduct and place the focus of discipline on discerning and correcting the reasons why discrimination and harassment occurred. The remedial responses should also be designed to correct the problem behavior, prevent another occurrence of the behavior, and protect the target of the act or acts. Appropriate remedial measures may include, but are not limited to:

• peer support groups; corrective instruction or other relevant learning or service experience;

• supportive intervention;

• behavioral assessment or evaluation;

• behavioral management plans, with benchmarks that are closely monitored; and

• student counseling and parent conferences.

  Beyond these individual-focused remedial responses, school-wide or environmental remediation can be an important tool to prevent discrimination and harassment. Environmental remediation strategies may include:

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• supervisory systems which empower school staff with prevention and intervention tools to address incidents of discrimination, harassment and bullying;

• school and community surveys or other strategies for determining the conditions contributing to the relevant behavior;

• adoption of research-based, systemic harassment prevention programs;

• modification of schedules;

• adjustment in hallway traffic and other student routes of travel;

• targeted use of monitors;

• staff professional development;

• parent conferences;

• involvement of parent-teacher organizations; and

• peer support groups.

  Reporting Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying

  The Code of Conduct offers an opportunity to reinforce the importance of reporting incidents of discrimination, harassment and bullying. The Code of Conduct should include procedures by which violations are reported, determined, and discipline measures are imposed and implemented. It is recommended that districts and BOCES review their Codes of Conduct to ensure that they contain provisions for reporting incidents of discrimination, harassment and bullying. This reporting mechanism may help form the basis for collecting data that can be useful in assessing school climate. Please see the Local Model Student Harassment and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Policy for more information about reporting requirements.

  Code of Conduct Publication and Training

  Under Education Law §2801(4) and 8 NYCRR §100.2(I)(2)(iii)(b), districts and BOCES must ensure community awareness of their Code of Conduct provisions by various specified means, including, but not limited to, posting it on their Internet web site, if available. As part of ensuring community awareness of their Code of Conduct provisions, it is also recommended that districts and BOCES provide training to students and staff that specifically highlights the new Dignity Act provisions, such as the prohibition against discrimination and harassment and the availability of each school’s DAC.

  Additionally, the Dignity Act requires that a summary of the Code of Conduct be provided to all students, in an age-appropriate version, written in plain-language, to ensure that students understand the standards of respect and appropriate behavior that the school community expects from them.

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Please be aware that the Dignity Act does not prohibit the denial of admission into, or exclusion from, a course of instruction based on a person’s gender that would be permissible under Education Law §§2854(2)(a) and 3201-a and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 USC §1681, et. seq.), or prohibit, as discrimination based on disability, actions that would be permissible under §504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

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