August 01, 1997

Lawsuits Lurk in the Back of the Bus

Teasing, name-calling and playful touching are everyday occurrences

on school buses. While most of this may be harmless fun, some of it
could be sexual harassment.

by Laurie Wiegler, Associate Editor

*Put it in writing*
All school districts should have written policies outlining the
grievance procedures for sexual harassment. According to the OCR's
guidelines, schools are required to adopt and publish grievance
procedures providing for prompt resolution of sex discrimination
complaints, including those stemming from sexual harassment. This policy
is based on Title IX, the 1972 U.S. education code amendment that
prohibits schools that receive federal funding from sexual
discrimination. Although some recent court cases have supported the
OCR's interpretation of Title IX to include sexual harassment, not all
federal courts agree. Joe Purcell, a driver for Wake County Public
Schools in Raleigh, N.C., says a message was circulated among the
drivers stating that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. He says,
though, that the drivers haven't had any formal training. And although
he says he hasn't observed sexual harassment on his bus, he nevertheless
educates his elementary-age riders. "I say, 'You may compliment a girl,
but don't force the issue.'"

*Focus on drivers, too*

School bus operators also need to be wary of driver-to-student
harassment. Certainly, driver harassment of students occurs, but in many
cases, a driver's conduct has been misconstrued. "I believe there is a
gray area out there where touchy-feely people get lumped in, and their
behavior may or may not be sexual harassment," says James Southern,
transportation director at Tacoma (Wash.) School District #10. "Through
lack of education, they may not interpret what they're doing as sexual
harassment, whether it is or not." Identifying sexual harassment can be
difficult because it can be a matter of "his word vs. hers," Southern
says. For example, a female student told her parents that a driver
touched her inappropriately on the shoulder. The driver was suspended
from driving for three months, although an investigation later cleared
him, Southern says. To address the issue, Southern's department offers
drivers an annual two-hour sexual harassment class. Taught by the
district's diversity compliance officer, the class provides an overview
of what sexual harassment is and how employees can respond appropriately
to it. Although cases in which students harass drivers are less common
than the converse, they do occur, and transportation managers need to be
ready to respond appropriately. "One of the worst cases I've ever heard
about is a kid calling a driver a sexist pig and a lesbian," says Andrew
Waite, a driver for Ventura County (Calif.) School District. According
to Waite, the driver had been trying to discipline the child. He says
offending students are required to fill out a report that is given to
their parents. Lamar Atkins, former transportation director and
currently the district administrator and director of attendant services
for Sumter (S.C.) School District, says the two-district county has seen
and tried cases, including a male-to-male harassment incident and an
alleged driver-to-student case. "Many families in South Carolina would
like to think that something like this doesn't happen in their town, but
it does," Atkins says. "There is no Smalltown U.S.A." **

*Courts still uncertain about negligence issue*

As most any teenager knows, sexual harassment is prevalent at school and
on the school bus. According to a 1993 study by pollster Louis Harris,
81 percent of 1,600 eighth- through eleventh-graders have experienced
sexual harassment. Of that figure, more than a quarter experienced such
incidents on the school bus. According to the U.S. Department of
Education, dozens of school districts are being investigated for
student-to-student sexual harassment. In some cases, school districts
have been successfully sued for failing to stem peer sexual harassment.
A jury in Antioch, Calif., ordered a school district to pay $500,000 to
a sixth-grade girl who said she was harassed the entire school year.
Last fall, however, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case
brought by Debbie Rowinsky and her two daughters against the Bryan
(Texas) Independent School District. Rowinsky says school officials
ignored complaints that her daughters were verbally and physically
harassed on the school bus during the 1992-93 school year. Rowinsky took
the case to the high court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th
Circuit ruled that sexual harassment does not violate Title IX, the
federal education amendment that prohibits gender discrimination. "The
mere existence of sexual harassment [at school] does not necessarily
constitute sexual discrimination," wrote Judge Jerry Smith.