Burlington School District has met anti-bullying and harassment requirements set by DOJ

The Burlington School District has made sufficient changes to address bullying and harassment over the past three years to be released from a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

In December 2019 the DOJ entered into a settlement agreement with the district following an investigation into "severe and pervasive sex-based harassment, including assault, that went unaddressed by the district." The complaint came from a group of parents at Sustainability Academy, an elementary school, who said their children suffered bullying and harassment from other students regarding gender fluidity and that administrators and the district did not do enough to address the behavior or keep their children safe.

Among the actions required by the district as part of the settlement was to enhance harassment training for staff, appoint a nondiscrimination coordinator and conduct a climate survey twice a year at Sustainability Academy.

In a letter to the school district on March 17 which closed the agreement, the DOJ commended the district on making substantial progress on equity issues and a marked increase in compliance with policies and procedures regarding harassment.

The department said one of the remaining challenges is to track incidents of harassment by student − by both the target and offending students − as a way to measure whether ongoing harassment is occurring. The DOJ noted race-based harassment had been increasing, and suggested the district could apply its efforts to combat anti-LGBTQ harassment to those involving race.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work our team has done to get to this point,” said Superintendent Tom Flanagan, who was hired by the district about a half year into the settlement agreement's initiation. He said Director of Equity Sparks, the office of equity, the leadership team and Sustainability Academy staff had a hand in making significant positive changes.

"Sparks and these leaders led us in making changes to the way we report, how we investigate, and how we educate students, staff, and the community around [hazing, harassment and bullying], and, most importantly, gender identity and bias. Though it was hard work, BSD is now better able to support and keep students safe," he said.

The district said that while the settlement had concluded, it would continue to implement policies and initiatives put in place through working with the DOJ.

“Although BSD humbly appreciates being released from the settlement agreement, we must also acknowledgethe issues that caused BSD to be in the agreement from the start,” Sparks said. “First and foremost, our responsibility is to keep students, and staff safe from situations of Hazing, Harassment, and Bullying. Through our work with the DOJ, we have implemented several strategies and systems to ensure all incidents of HHB are addressed thoroughly and swiftly.”

Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: DOJ settlement with Burlington School District over bullying concludes