Salt Lake City School District has reached resolution on a retaliation complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
The district this week trained Glendale Middle School workers on federal regulations prohibiting retaliation against a person who raises civil-rights concerns, district spokesman Jason Olsen said Wednesday. The training was OK'd by the civil-rights office, which is monitoring the district.
The Salt Lake City Board of Education also is poised to approve an anti-harassment policy, about which all schools will receive training, Olsen said.
"New anti-harassment policies will be a major focus of our district this year," he said. "These improvements weren't brought about by (the) complaint; they were already in the process."
Glendale Middle School parent Michael Clara filed a retaliation complaint with the office earlier this year. Clara claimed the district retaliated against him after he complained the school did not address needs of students learning English as a second language.
Clara, then-PTA president and chairman of Glendale's school community council, contended district and school officials wouldn't give him public information so he could see how the school's reading program helped student achievement.
The Office of Civil Rights took on the case. In an Aug. 16 letter to Clara, the office noted the case would be closed upon completion of the district's training agreement.
Clara is pleased with the resolution but doesn't believe it solves everything.
"The message needs to be sent to them that they can't intimidate, make fun of or harass people who bring up issues in the public school system," Clara said. He remains concerned about equal academic opportunities for students at Glendale and other issues.
Clara has aired such concerns in a "class action" civil-rights complaint filed against the district last fall.
Two complaints accused the district of placing students in special education classes because they can't speak fluent English and of not communicating with parents in their native tongue or involving them in school community councils. They also said the district discriminates against minority students by not having procedures to consider them for or tell their parents about gifted programs, among other violations.
To resolve the issue, the district agreed to a number of steps, including improving its Alternative Language Services plan, telling parents about programs and community meetings in their native languages, and staff and student training on policies. Again, the Office of Civil Rights will monitor the district's progress on plans, expected to be implemented in October.
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