Board Report December 2025

March 2024October 2025

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School Board

Discrimination and Harassment on the Basis of Race, Color, and National Origin Prohibited 1 Discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, or national origin negatively affect a student’s ability to learn and an employee’s ability to work. Providing an educational and workplace environment free from such discrimination and harassment is an important District goal. The District does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, or national origin in any of its education programs or activities, and it complies with federal and State non-discrimination laws.

The footnotes are not intended to be part of the adopted policy; they should be removed before the policy is adopted. 1 105 ILCS 5/22-95 (final citation pending), added by P.A. 103-472, eff. 8-1-24, requires districts to have a written policy (or policies) that prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin, as well as retaliation. The policy must contain the following: (1) descriptions of various forms of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin, including examples; (2) the district's internal process for filing a complaint regarding a violation of the policy; (3) an overview of the district's prevention and response program that includes procedures for responding to complaints of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin and retaliation; (4) potential remedies for a violation of the policy; (5) a prohibition on retaliation for making a complaint or participating in the complaint process; (6) the legal recourse available to the Ill. Dept. of Human Rights (IDHR) and federal agencies if a district fails to take corrective action; and (7) directions on how to contact IDHR. Id. at (b)(1). Discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin are also covered more generally as protected categories in sample policies 5:10, Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment , 5:20, Workplace Harassment Prohibited , 7:10, Equal Educational Opportunities , and 7:20, Harassment of Students Prohibited . Two laws apply to discrimination of students based on race, color, and national origin. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. 42 U.S.C. §2000d. The IHRA prohibits any district employee from harassing a student based on certain actual or perceived protected categories, including race, color, and national origin, and it requires schools to take appropriate corrective action to stop harassment if the school knows an employee or agent is engaged (or has engaged) in harassment. 775 ILCS 5/5A-101(F) and 5/5A-102(C)-(D), added by P.A. 103-472, eff. 8-1-24. The IHRA defines "harassment in elementary secondary, or higher education," in relevant part, as any unwelcome conduct by a school employee toward a student on the basis of a student's actual or perceived race, color, or national origin "that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a student's educational performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment." 775 ILCS 5/5A-101(F), added by P.A. 103-472, eff. 8-1-24. The educational environment "includes conduct that occurs at school, school-related activities, or events, and may include conduct that occurs off school grounds, subject to applicable State and federal law. Id. at (G). See sample policy 7:190, Student Behavior , at f/n 3, for a discussion about the ability of schools to discipline for off-campus conduct and consult the board attorney for advice in specific cases. For a discussion of laws that prohibit discrimination in the employment context, including harassment based on race, color, and national origin, see sample policies 5:10, Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment , and 5:20, Workplace Harassment Prohibited , at f/n 1. Districts are also required to train all new and existing employees on discrimination and harassment based on race, color, and national origin using a. A district may use the free model training program developed by the Ill. Dept. of Human Rights, available at: https://dhr.illinois.gov/training/racism-free-schools, or another training program that meets the requirements of 775 ILCS 5/5A-103(b), added by P.A. 103-472. Training for new employees must be provided as part of new employee training and then every two years thereafter. Initial training for existing employees must be completed by 7-31-26 and then every two years thereafter. See sample policy 5:100, Staff Development Program , and sample administrative procedure 2:270 AP, Prevention and Response Program for Complaints of Discrimination and Harassment Based on Race, Color, and National Origin , for more detail on the training requirements. DRAFT

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