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DoJ Reaches Agreement with Phila School District Over Harassment
Also reaches agreement with School Reform Commission
Justice Department Release
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a settlement
agreement with the School District of Philadelphia and the School Reform
Commission to resolve an investigation into a complaint of race, color
and/or national origin-based harassment of Asian students at South
Philadelphia High School, and allegations that the school district was
deliberately indifferent to the severe and pervasive harassment. The
Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) announced a separate
agreement with the School District of Philadelphia and the School Reform
Commission.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania, made by the Asian-American Legal Defense and Education
Fund (AALDEF), alleged persistent harassment, including an incident in
December 2009, in which approximately 30 Asian students were attacked
and approximately 13 were sent to the emergency room. Under Title IV of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, school districts are required
to protect students from harassment based on race, color, sex, national
origin or religion.
With the cooperation of the district, AALDEF, numerous community
advocacy groups, students, and numerous witnesses, the department
conducted an extensive investigation of the school district’s policies
and practices with regard to student-on-student harassment. The
settlement agreement will ensure that the district: retains an expert
consultant in the area of harassment and discrimination based on race,
color and/or national origin to review the district’s policies and
procedures concerning harassment; develops and implements a
comprehensive plan for preventing and addressing student-on-student
harassment at the high school; conducts training of faculty, staff and
students on discrimination and harassment based on race, color and/or
national origin and to increase multi-cultural awareness; maintains
records of investigations and responses to allegations of harassment;
and provides annual compliance reports to the department and the PHRC as
well as makes harassment data publicly available.
“Schools have an obligation to ensure a safe learning environment for
everyone. We will continue to use all of the tools in our law
enforcement arsenal to ensure that all students can go to school without
fearing harassment,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General
for the Civil Rights Division. “I applaud the proactive steps taken by
the school district to address this matter, as well as the courageous
actions of students, parents and community leaders who came forward to
call attention to the pervasive harassment.”
Zane David Memeger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania, added that, “All children in the school district are the
big winners today.” Memeger said, “We hope that the investigation and
our settlement agreement represent the start of a corrective action plan
that eventually will eliminate student-on-student harassment in all
Philadelphia public schools, not just South Philadelphia High School.”
The enforcement of Title IV is a top priority of the Justice
Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the
Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is available on its website
at
www.justice.gov/crt. Additional information about the U.S.
Attorney’s Office is available on its website at www.justice.gov/usao/pae.
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