JANESVILLE — The Janesville School District has adopted a new Title IX policy that will protect students in the LGBTQIA+ community as well as people who are pregnant or have pregnancy- related conditions.
The policy also lays out a process for complaints, investigations and determinations into allegations of sexual harassment and violence.
The school board approved the policy Tuesday with no discussion. It will address any allegations made for incidents on Aug. 1 or after. Any allegations of incidents prior to that date will be addressed with the district’s current Title IX policy.
The policy was reviewed by the Personnel, Policy and Curriculum Committee prior to board approval. In an email from Public Information Officer Patrick Gasper, the school district told The Gazette on Monday that the policy was not approved prior to Aug. 1 because the committee did not meet in July and did not review it until last week.
The new policy is based on legislation passed by the Biden Administration that had a final rule in April by the U.S. The policy bans discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity.
A memo from the district states that it and the school board is committed to maintaining an education and work environment that is free from sex discrimination and sex-based harassment, and committed to responding “promptly and effectively” when there is knowledge of infractions.
“Persons who commit sex-based harassment are subject to the full range of disciplinary sanctions set forth in this policy. The Board will provide persons who have experienced sex-based harassment ongoing remedies as reasonably necessary to restore or preserve access to the District’s education program or activity,” the memo states.
Pregnancy or related conditions are defined as not just pregnancy, but childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation and childbirth.
Pregnancy and related conditions will be treated as other temporary medical conditions for all job-related purposes, according to the memo. That includes commencement, duration and extensions of leave, as well as payment of disability income, accrual of seniority, other service benefits, reinstatements and other fringe benefits offered to employees by virtue of employment.
Also according to the memo, if an employee doesn’t have enough paid time off banked, the district will consider pregnancy or related conditions “as a justification for a voluntary leave of absence without pay for a reasonable period of time, at the conclusion of which the employee shall be reinstated to the status held when the leave began or to a comparable position” with no pay cut.
The policy also states the board will not adopt or implement policies, practices or procedures, or take any actions based on sex concerning the current, potential or past parental, family or marital status of an employee or applicant for employment. It also bans policies or practices based on whether or not employees or applicants are heads of households or a principal wage earner in a family unit. A pre-employment inquiry may also not be made into the marital status of an applicant, including if the applicant is a “Miss or Mrs.”
The district is required to assign Title IX coordinators. According to the policy approved, those coordinators will be Director of Pupil Services Kim Peerenboom and Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Human Services Scott Garner.
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