It’s been an odd year for schools, with most districts having to enact plans and policies they likely could never have imagined previously. But at the April 20 meeting of the Windsor Unified School District Board of Trustees, they had yet one more unusual discussion — what resources are available for victims of sexual assault and harassment in the light of a very public conversations about those crimes being allegedly perpetrated by the town’s mayor.
“We’ve thought a lot about what we want to share and we know town is hurting,” said Superintendent Jeremy Decker. “This is hard and we wanted to lend voice, but in a way that was constructive, and we thought best way is to discuss what have for students and staff if they find themselves in a compromised position.”
The presentation was a group effort, with Director of Human Resources Chris Canelake taking the staff side and various administrators from Windsor High School taking the students side, with additional interventions from other members of the district administration.
They started with a comprehensive list of all of the policies and laws — federal, state and board — that govern their responses to an incident. Then they walked viewers through the process starting, with what to do if they are victimized.
On the staff side, they have the ability to file a complaint through Superintendent/Human Resources Universal Complaint Procedure, which posted at all worksite locations. The “universal” refers to the fact that from that single form/procedure, additional complaints can be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC, a Federal Agency), the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH, a State Agency) or local law enforcement agencies. Staff can also file a complaint with any of the above agencies individual and/or singly.
Students are strongly recommended to report the incident to the police, or report the incident to an administrator, counselor or teacher who will notify the police. It was pointed at that as mandated reporters, school staff has an obligation to notify the authorities for an investigation. However, concurrently as that is happening, within the district, counseling support will be made available immediately, parent(s) will be contacted and any and all additional resources, as identified, will be made available.
“Report, report, report,” said interim high school principal Steven Jorgensen. “If something happens we can’t stress enough how important it is to report.”
For staff members using the Universal Complaint Procedure, the case will be logged and recorded, a compliance officer assigned and interim safety measures established. Both parties will receive a notification with in 60 days, and to be followed by an investigation and a report of findings to both parties. A final written decision with facts, conclusions, disposition, corrective action (s) will be provided and then the parties have rights to appeal, and rights to file with other agencies.
For students, the district will respond by contacting the student/parent seeking the welfare of a student who may have been a victim of sexual harassment/assault and, if confirmed, contact the police. Again, as mandated reporters, school employees have an obligation to notify the authorities for an investigation, which may include Child Protective Services. Counseling supports will be made available immediately by the district and additional supports will be available to students, including an “Open Pass” to the counseling office, schedule changes, advisement to student on how to respond to peers, communication with teachers, communication with outside support agencies.
Community resources for victims of trauma include the Family Justice Center Sonoma County which empowers family violence victims to live free from violence and abuse by providing comprehensive services, centered on and around the victim, at one location. This includes the Redwood Children’s Center at the Family Justice Center, where young victims of sexual abuse or trafficking are interviewed by a trained forensic professional. To reduce the number of times a child must be interviewed regarding their experience, sessions are monitored and recorded for law enforcement, legal and social services professionals review.
Another community resource is Verity, which supports social justice and equality for all adults and children who have been sexually assaulted. They are committed to ending sexual violence by working to eliminate the conditions that cause or tolerate it.
Finally, Sonoma County Legal Aid helps survivors by providing access to shelter, money for food and basic necessities, health and mental health care and transportation.
On-campus resources for students include academic counselors who support all students in the areas of academic achievement, career and social/emotional development.
There are also social emotional counselors (SEC) designed to help support students with all of their needs including, but not limited to school or academic struggles, peer, family or other social issues as well as the emotional well-being of students including managing their emotions and mental health. SEC can provide services on campus and are also available virtually due to COVID-19. SEC can also help connect students and families to mental health resources within the community when appropriate. This is a resource that is open to all students by simply filling out the referral form on this website, then based off of the student’s need the appropriate counselor will respond.
At the high school they also have supports available including their facilitated circles with trained staff, clubs focused on social emotional health and crisis counseling, and at present a current interest, on the part of the Pre-Med core teaching team and their students, to create a “Public Health Club” that could organize speakers and create events to raise awareness, peers providing the resources for educating their colleagues, in the fall.
To view the entire presentation of resources, click here.
To explore the Windsor High School counseling department, and it’s various resources, click here.
