CLIFTON PARK -- Just a few
months after a gay student was harassed there, Shenendehowa
High School has revised its definition of harassment to include
sexual orientation.
Sexual orientation has not appeared before in the district's Code of
Conduct for harassment.
Shenendehowa spokeswoman Kelly DeFeciani said Principal Robert
Melia's document coincides with the Respect Club's Survival Series, a
week long series of presentations on harassment, and not the incident
that injured one student and left another suspended until the end of
January.
School officials say the high school's definition and instructions
are the principal's interpretation of district's Code of Conduct and
Sexual Harassment policy.
'It's really not a policy,' Shenendehowa spokesperson Kelly DeFeciani
said of Melia's definition. 'It's really just a definition within an
existing policy.'
The Shenendehowa Board of Education creates the district wide
policies on harassment and addresses it in two areas, DeFeciani said.
The Code of Conduct, which sets the criteria for disciplinary
actions, addresses harassment in general terms and does not specify
sexual orientation, a point recently criticized by gay rights groups.
The second document is a sexual harassment policy, which does specify
sexual orientation.
DeFeciani said Melia was clarifying what harassment means in the
district's Code of Conduct, which sets the criteria for disciplinary
actions on a student.The Board of Education asked the policy committee
to look into the district's policies on harassment earlier than normal
this year because of the attention brought to gay and lesbian students.
The committee is expected to meet next week.
Mitch Hahn of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, GLSEN,
said Melia's actions are positive steps for the school.
'I applaud the efforts of the high school,' Hahn said. 'The best way
to enforce that policy is to bring sensitivity training to the teachers
and faculty so they understand the issues those students face.'
Melia said anyone who is being harassed should report it to a staff
member, counselor, or administrator.
