JAY – The School Committee chairman advised a parent to follow a public complaint process Thursday after she asked several questions about harassment.
The parent said her daughter transferred to a neighboring high school through a superintendent’s agreement but was not allowed to participate there in a sport she had been playing in Jay.
“My daughter transferred from Jay High School to SAD 9 because she was harassed,” Tammy St. Pierre said.
The mother said her daughter is no longer able to play that sport because the superintendent’s agreement indicated she transferred due to sports.
In a general situation, Superintendent Robert Wall said the Maine Principals’ Association has regulations governing athletic eligibility when students transfer because of sports.
Chairman Clint Brooks said the school board was not involved in superintendent’s agreements and wouldn’t know what she was talking about. He also explained that the subject was not on the agenda but a first reading of injurious hazing policy was on the agenda further down.
The initial discussion started in comments from the public section of the agenda and continued during the policy review.
Wall said the proposed injurious hazing policy is an update of the system’s harassment policy. The existing policy does not include staff, only students, and the update would keep the school system in compliance with required state policies, he said.
St. Pierre asked who would be covered in the appeals process clause. Brooks said the appeals process deals with person who has been charged with a violation. She asked what happens to a person who had been harassed if nothing is done about the complaint.
There are other existing policies that deal with harassment and affirmative action, and there is a public complaint process, Brooks told her.
In order for a complaint to reach the board level for review, the procedures in the public complaint process needs to be followed, Brooks said.
Resident Maria Amero commented that if a harassment complaint has been lodged, it’s the superintendent’s duty to report the incident to the Maine attorney general’s office.
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