Youth | Bullying | Vermont

Yes. It is the policy of the state of Vermont that all Vermont educational institutions provide “safe, orderly, civil and positive learning environments.  Harassment, hazing and bullying have no place and will not be tolerated in Vermont schools” (16 V.S.A § 570).

Bullying is defined as an act (including an electronic one) directed against a student by another student or group of students that:

1. is repeated over time;
2. is intended to ridicule, humiliate or intimidate; and
3. occurs during the school day on school property, on a bus or at a school-sponsored activity or before or after the school day on a school bus or at a school-sponsored activity; OR occurs at any other time and can be shown to pose a clear and substantial interference with a student’s right to access educational programs (16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(32)).

Harassment is defined as verbal, written, visual, or physical conduct (including by electronic means) motivated by a student’s or student’s family member’s actual or perceived characteristic such as sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability that is intended to:

1. objectively and substantially undermining and detracting from or interfering with educational performance or access to school resources; or
2. creating an objectively intimidating, hostile or offensive environment (16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(26)(A)).

Hazing is defined as any act against a student who is pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization that is affiliated with an educational institution and that is intended to have the effect of (or be reasonably expected to have the effect of) humiliating, intimidating or demeaning the student or endangering the physical or mental health of the student (16 V.S.A. § 11(a)(30)(A)).

All public and approved independent schools must develop, adopt, ensure the enforcement of, and make available to all students, staff, and parents, bullying, harassment and hazing prevention policies that shall be at least as stringent as the model policies developed by the Vermont Department of Education (16 V.S.A. § 570(b)). The model policies can be found at: http://education.vermont.gov/documents/healthy-safe-schools-hhb-model-policy.

All of these policies must include:

1. Annually notifying the students, staff and parents about the policies and procedures;
2. A procedure that directs students, staff and parents to report violations and file complaints;
3. A procedure for investigating reports of violations and complaints;
4. A description of the circumstances under which the violation may be reported to a law enforcement agency;
5. Consequences and appropriate remedial action for those who violate the policy;
6. A description of the training that teachers and other staff will receive in preventing, recognizing and responding to violations; and
7. Designation of two or more people at each school to receive complaints (16 V.S.A. §§ 570a (harassment), 570b (hazing), 570c (bullying)).

Harassment and hazing are also explicitly prohibited at Vermont postsecondary schools, which are required to establish policies and enforcement procedures to address harassment complaints (16 V.S.A. § 178).

Yes, the US Supreme Court in Mahanoy Area School Dist. v. B. L. affirmed in addition to concluding that students have broad speech and expression rights outside of school, also stated:

“Circumstances that may implicate a school’s regulatory interests [outside school] include serious or severe bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals; threats aimed at teachers or other students…”

Yes. The Vermont Agency of Education has established best practices for schools regarding transgender and gender nonconforming students.[1] These practices are intended to help school and district administrators take steps to create a culture in which transgender and gender nonconforming students feel safe, supported, and fully included and to meet each school’s obligation to provide equal educational opportunities for all students. These practices are intended to help schools ensure a safe learning environment free of discrimination and harassment and to promote the educational and social integration of transgender and gender nonconforming students.

[1] Gade http://education.vermont.gov/sites/aoe/files/documents/edu-best-practices-transgender-and-gnc.pdf.

Possibly. Federal law prohibits sex discrimination in public schools that receive federal funding. Depending on the situation, harassment of LGBT students may be actionable as sex discrimination (See, e.g., Ray v. Antioch Unified School District, 107 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (N.D. Cal. 2000) (stating that attacks based on a student’s perceived sexuality constitute sex discrimination)). Harassment of transgender students in particular is actionable. Several federal courts have held that the federal anti-discrimination law, Title IX, prohibits discrimination based on gender identity (See, e.g., Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 Bd. of Educ., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 9362 (7^yèm Cir. 2017); cf. Bd. of Educ. v. U.S. Dep’t of Educ., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131474 (S.D. Ohio 2016)).

Ou ka pote plent bay kowòdinatè Tit IX lekòl ou a, epitou bay:

Biwo Dwa Sivil yo
Depatman Edikasyon Etazini an
Biwo Lapòs ak Tribinal John W. McCormack, Sal 222
Plas Biwo Lapòs la
Boston, MA 02109
(617) 223-9667

Anplis de sa, gen kèk kalite diskriminasyon ak arasman ki ka vyole dwa konstitisyonèl yon elèv.

There are many ways to approach the issue. One is to ask for support from a friend, teacher or counselor and talk to the people who are bothering you. That is not an option, however, if you don’t feel safe doing so.

Gade règleman lekòl ou a epi avize nenpòt moun ki sipoze resevwa avi a—anjeneral yon vis direktè oswa yon kowòdonatè Tit IX. Ou ta dwe dokimante nenpòt ensidan arasman oswa diskriminasyon alekri avèk omwen dat ak lè a. Yon fwa ou rankontre ak ofisyèl ki apwopriye yo, ekri nòt sou sa ou te di yo ak ki dat epi mande ki lè y ap kontakte ou ak yon repons. Si yo pa ede ou oswa si yo pa swiv sa yo te di a, ou ka vle ekri direktè a ak sipèentandan an epi mande yo pou yo mete fen nan diskriminasyon an.

Si sa pa mache, ou ka vle konsidere tou pouswiv vil la legalman lè w kontakte Komisyon Connecticut sou Dwa Moun ak Opòtinite oubyen Biwo Dwa Sivil Depatman Edikasyon federal la.

Sa a se yon domèn lalwa konplike epi li difisil pou jwenn emosyon tou. Kontakte GLAD Answers lè w ranpli fòm imèl la nan Repons GLAD or by phone at 800-455-4523 (GLAD) to discuss options.