Board Policies & Rules
The policies and administrative rules of the Grand Rapids Public Schools Board of Education, Kent County, Michigan, are the result of a combined effort of the professional staff of the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB), the Board of Education, and the District's staff.
The staff of MASB has written the policy and rule model and integrated into that model the valid policies and procedures selected by the District at the time of the first draft. After forwarding the first draft a MASB staff member and selected staff members of the District worked in consort to edit all of the proposed policies and rules resulting in preparation of a final draft to be presented to the Board of Education.
The Board has appointed a Policy Committee to review language, laws, and the current environment to update or create a new policy.
The Board strives to create and maintain a work environment in which staff are treated with dignity, decency, and respect. Discriminatory harassment of District elected officials, applicants for hire, employees, vendors, contractors, or others doing business with the District, scholars, parent(s)/ guardian(s), invitees, volunteers, or guests will not be tolerated.
Discriminatory Harassment
Discriminatory harassment 1s defined as any verbal, cyber, or physical conduct, intimidation, ridicule, disparagement, purposeful embarrassment, or chiding of any person because of their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and/or expression, height, weight, color, hair texture, hair type or hair style, religion, national origin, age, marital status, pregnancy, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law when:
- Submission to such conduct or communication is made a te1m or condition, either explicitly or implicitly, to obtain employment;
- Submission to, or rejection of, such conduct or communication by an employee/applicant is used as a factor in decisions affecting their employment; or
- Such conduct or communication has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an employee's employment, or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment environment, or otherwise adversely affects an employee's employment opportunities.
If a Board member, employee, applicant for hire, vendor, contractor, or others doing business with the District allege sexual harassment, the provisions in Board Policy 5037 Sexual Harassment of Employees and Other Persons and its rules shall apply.
Reporting
Any employee or applicant who believes that they have suffered discriminatory harassment or believes that any other employee, contractor, vendor, scholar, or member of the public has suffered harassment, should immediately report the incident(s) to their supervisor, the Superintendent, the Civil Rights Coordinator, the Title IX Coordinator, or Human Resources at:
Grand Rapids Public Schools
Attn: HR/Title IX Coordinator
1331 Martin Luther King Jr St SE.
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Phone: (616) 819-2000
Reports may also be made to the Ethics Hotline at https://reportanissue.com/grps/welcome.php or 800-345-7377. The hotline will take anonymous complaints. Employees may also contact the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.
The District guarantees that an employee or applicant for employment reporting an incident of discriminatory harassment will not suffer any form of retaliation.
Investigating Complaints
In determining whether the alleged conduct constitutes discriminatory harassment, the totality of the circumstances, the nature of the harassment, and the context in which the alleged incident(s) occurred will be investigated. The Superintendent will investigate complaints of discriminatory harassment of employees or applicants. In cases where the alleged harassment involves a Board member, the District will appoint outside legal counsel to investigate the complaint. The results of an investigation and any action taken thereon will be communicated to the parties.
In the event the complaint is against the Superintendent, the Board Vice President will be automatically designated as the recipient and investigator for such complaints. The Vice President may, at their sole discretion, elect to employ District legal counsel or other qualified, independent investigators to assist them in the investigation. Results of the Vice President's investigation will be turned over to the Board President.
The District considers discriminatory harassment to be a major offense, which, if substantiated, will result in disciplinary action of the offender. Disciplinary action against an employee may include suspension or termination of employment. Disciplinary action against a Board member may include a Board public censure or any other remedy available under law.
Notification
Notice of this policy and its accompanying rules will be posted on the District website. Notice will also be provided to applicants upon hire and to employees, scholars, and parents/guardians on an annual basis. Training sessions on this policy, rules, and the prevention of discriminatory harassment will be held periodically for Board members and District employees.
The Superintendent will develop rules to implement this policy. Those rules are incorporated by reference as a part of this policy.
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