Home

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs School Board members said Monday night that the district's harassment policy is sound, but they acknowledged more should be done to educate students, teachers and parents about what to do when threatened.

Monday's harassment policy review was prompted by a Steamboat Springs teenager's acquittal last week of assault and disorderly conduct charges stemming from a February 2007 incident that left another student with a broken jaw. Randall Nelson, the acquitted teen, allegedly was the subject of repeated racially motivated taunts from the other boy.

Administrators depicted the incident at Steamboat Springs Middle School as a wake-up call about harassment in local schools. The incident prompted a revamping of harassment policies for the Steamboat Springs School District, where 91.7 percent of students are white, according to enrollment figures for the 2007-08 school year.

Many board members, administrators and community members expressed support Monday for the revised harassment policy, which was passed by a previous School Board in August.

"As a board, I think we are covered in what we need to do, but we can always beef up what we expect in (monitoring) results," said board member Laura Anderson, who proposed having administors include harassment updates in their monitoring reports to the School Board.

The harassment policy mandates a series of steps that administrators must follow - including a written descritpion of the incident - when students or faculty report harassment.

Administrators "must promptly and appropriately discipline any student, teacher, administrator or other school personnel who is found to have violated this policy, provide appropriate assistance to the victim and/or take other appropriate action reasonably calculated to end the harassment," the policy states.

Documenting harassment

Some at the School Board meeting noted that there should be more of a paper trail after incidents are investigated.

"I'm very happy with the way the School Board has addressed harassment in the district, but I think we should always err on the side of documentation," said Stacey Sandvik, a parent of two Soda Creek Elementary School students.

Middle School Assistant Principal Jerry Buelter, who was part of the committee that revised the harassment policy last year, told board members that he too would like to see more of a paper trail after incidents are investigated.

"It would really help with the transitions from school to school," he said. "As students enter sixth grade from the elementary school, or high school from eighth grade, it would be good to communicate more of a record of previous incidents."

But he cautioned against believing the existence of harassment forms and a paper trail will solve all problems.

"If we think we did our duty because there is a nice paper form and paper trail, then we are really naÃive," Buelter said. "I know there are things still going on, but I've never had anybody fill out the harassment form yet, and we've had it since August."

Strawberry Park Elementary School Principal Brenda Barr said she was uneasy with having a paper trail follow an elementary student for more than a year.

"At previous school districts I've been in, records were expunged in the elementary schools at the end of the year," she said. "I don't know if it is wise to have an incident follow a student from the first grade through high school. : We need to be vigiliant but also cautious in how we handle this."

Board member John DeVincentis, a former principal at Strawberry Park, stressed that the district must be proactive in ensuring all students have a safe learning environment.

"As a board, we must strongly say, 'Enough is enough,'" he said.

School Board President Robin Crossan added, "We need to educate teachers and staff, educate parents and reach out to the community so they have broader knowledge of what we are doing so they can support the kids in our schools."

Buelter noted students also can call the "Safe2Tell" phone number at (877) 542-7233 to anonymously report harassment.

"I don't think we've ever received a single call from that," he said.

While the School Board asserted that there is no room in district schools for harassment of any kind, board members noted it is the responsibility of the administrators to revise and implement the policy.

"With policy governance, we can't tell Dr. (Sandra) Smyser to change this word or change that word in the policy she and district administrators create, but it should follow the mission of the School Board," Crossan said.

The School Board's general policy on harassment states: "Harassment based on race or color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion, hereinafter referred to as protected categories is specifically prohibited. Every student within the school district shall have the opportunity to learn in an environment free from such harassment as defined by this policy."

Smyser will return to the School Board in February to propose any additional changes.

- To reach Mike McCollum, call 871-4208

or e-mail mmccollum@steamboatpilot.com