Resolution Agreement
West Sonoma County Union High School District
OCR Case No. 09-16-1264
In order to resolve the compliance concerns raised and the finding of non-compliance made by
the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), in the investigation of the
above-referenced complaint filed by the Complainant on behalf of the Student who attended a
high school in the District (School) pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its
implementing regulation, the West Sonoma County Union High School District (District),
without admitting any violation of federal law, agrees to take the actions in this Resolution
Agreement (Agreement).
I.

Individual Remedies
A. The District will contact the Complainant and offer to pay for the cost of twenty-five (25)
hours of counseling sessions for the Student. If the offer is accepted, the District will
coordinate with the Complainant, and/or the Student’s Father, and the provider, by
January 1, 2017 regarding the arrangements for the counseling, including the payment for
the sessions, the number of sessions, and the beginning and end dates of the sessions.
The counseling provider will be selected by the Complainant and must be a licensed
psychologist or therapist. The maximum amount to be paid by the District for these
services is $150 an hour. These sessions are to be held between the date on which this
agreement is signed and September 1, 2017. Any sessions unused by the Student as of
September 1, 2017 shall be forfeited.
B. The District will contact the Complainant and offer to pay for fifty (50) hours of sessions
of in-person academic tutoring for the Student either at his home, his current school, or a
tutoring/educational facility. If the offer is accepted, the District will coordinate with the
Complainant, and/or the Student’s Father, and the provider, by January 1, 2017,
regarding the arrangements for the tutoring, including the payment for the sessions, the
number of sessions, the beginning and end dates of the sessions, and the material to be
covered. The tutoring provider will be selected by the Complainant and must be in the
business of providing tutoring services in academic subjects or for college entrance
exams. The maximum amount to be paid by the District for these services is $100 per
hour. These sessions are to be held between the date on which this agreement is signed
and December 1, 2017. Any sessions unused by the Student as of December 1, 2017 shall
be forfeited.

II.

Anti-Harassment Statement
The District will issue a statement to all parents, guardians, employees, and students at
the School stating that the District does not tolerate harassment, including acts of
harassment based on race, color, or national origin. The statement will encourage any
student or parent who believes he or she has been subjected to harassment to report the
incident(s) to the District and note the District’s commitment to conducting a prompt
investigation. The statement will identify the individual(s) responsible for investigating
complaints of harassment, will contain time frames for completion of such investigations
and notice to complainants, will provide for appropriate corrective or disciplinary actions
for individuals who engage in harassment and will make clear that such discipline may

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include, if circumstances warrant, suspension or expulsion of a student and suspension or
termination of an employee. The statement will further warn that retaliation is prohibited
and that allegations that students and/or employees have retaliated against individuals
who report harassment will be promptly investigated and addressed. The statement will
be posted on the District’s web site and disseminated to the aforementioned individuals
via electronic mail to the email address provided by each family, and via postal mail if
the family has not provided an email address.
III.

Written Guidance and Training of District Personnel and Students

A. The District will issue a written guidance memorandum and facilitate training for all
administrators, faculty, and staff on the District’s harassment policies and procedures.
The written guidance memorandum and training will, at minimum, include the following
components:
1. a statement setting forth the District’s commitment to a harassment-free
environment;
2. a general overview of Title VI, including how the law’s nondiscrimination
provisions apply to students;
3. an explanation of the District’s Title VI policies and procedures, including
what constitutes racial harassment, the role of the designated compliance
officer, and corrective or disciplinary actions related to findings of violations
of the District’s harassment policies and procedures, including the District
policy prohibiting retaliation and intimidation;
4. an explanation of what staff should do if they believe students have been
subjected to harassment, including their duty to immediately report all
allegations of possible harassment;
5. the names and contact information for the designated employee(s) to whom
students or others may report allegations of harassment;
6. information regarding where staff can find the District’s harassment policies
and procedures; and
7. the existence of OCR and its authority to enforce Title VI.
B. The District will provide training to all District employees who are directly involved in
processing, investigating and/or resolving complaints or other reports of harassment on
the basis of race, color, or national origin, and any School counselors or other School
personnel who are likely to receive reports of harassment. The training will review the
District’s harassment policies and procedures and include instruction on how to conduct
and document adequate, reliable, and impartial harassment investigations, including the
appropriate legal standards to apply in such investigations and confidentiality
requirements. The District has requested OCR on-site training to meet this requirement.
Within fifteen days after the agreement is signed, the District will contact OCR to
confirm the training date.
C. The District will provide annual mandatory orientation sessions for all students at the
School site on the District’s harassment policies and Title VI policies and procedures,
including the topics described in Section III.A as are relevant to students.

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D. The District will incorporate age-appropriate, OCR-approved, classroom lessons for all
students at the School at least two times per semester in the 2016-17 spring semester and
the 2017-18 school years on race, race-based discrimination, and examples of prohibited
conduct, including harassment, in various school-related contexts.
IV.

Climate Surveys
The District will administer a school climate assessment to teachers, students, and
parents/guardians at the School to evaluate the climate at the School with respect to race
and the extent to which the survey respondents are subjected to or witness race-based
harassment. Participation in the survey by students will be voluntary, and the survey will
be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law. The survey shall specifically
inquire about the experience, knowledge, and perceptions of employees, students, and
parents/guardians about the climate at the School with respect to race, color, or national
origin, and will assess whether employees, students, and parents/guardians have
sufficient information about the District’s anti-discrimination policies and are able to find
the appropriate resources when necessary. The District will analyze the results of the
assessment and provide a proposed plan of action(s) to OCR to address any concerns
identified.

V.

Maintenance of Data
A. Effective immediately, the District agrees to maintain documents relating to complaints
of racial harassment of students at the School, including those complaints that are filed
formally through the District’s Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP), reported
informally, confidentially, or anonymously pursuant to the District’s Board Policy BP
5131.2(b) and BP 5145.3(a), and/or observed or witnessed directly by a staff member at
the School. The documentation will include the following:
1. a copy of all written reports, and a narrative of all verbal reports, of incidents
involving allegations of racial harassment;
2. a narrative of all actions taken in response to the reports by District personnel,
including any written documentation;
3. a copy of any and all corrective or disciplinary actions issued to students or
employees for violations of the harassment policies and procedures;
4. documentation demonstrating any interim and/or remedial efforts offered and
provided to the complainant, the alleged harasser and/or witnesses of the
incident(s), such as counseling or other appropriate services; and,
5. a narrative of all actions taken to prevent recurrence of any harassing
incident(s), including any written documentation.
B. The District will provide OCR with documentation of any complaints or reports of racial
harassment toward students during the 2016-2017 school year. The documentation will
include:
1. a copy of all written reports, and a narrative of all oral reports, of incidents
involving allegations of racial harassment;
2. a narrative of all actions taken in response to the reports by District personnel,
including any written documentation;

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3. a copy of any and all corrective or disciplinary actions issued to students or
employees for violations of the harassment policies and procedures;
4. documentation demonstrating any interim and/or remedial efforts offered and
provided to the complainant, the alleged harasser and/or witnesses of the
incident(s), such as counseling or other appropriate services; and,
5. a narrative of all actions taken to prevent recurrence of any harassing incident(s),
including any written documentation.
C. If OCR identifies compliance concerns with respect to the aforementioned
documentation, OCR will provide technical assistance to the District regarding those
concerns and may require the District provide the same documentation identified in this
section for the 2017-18 school year. If provided, OCR will review and provide further
technical assistance, as needed, for the 2017-18 school year complaints.
VI.

Monitoring and Reporting

A. Individual Remedy
1. Within 30 days after this agreement is signed, the District will submit documentation
to OCR confirming that it has contacted the Complainant and offered to provide
twenty-five counseling sessions to the Student. If the offer for counseling sessions is
accepted, within 15 days of the acceptance, the District will notify OCR by letter or
email that the Complainant has accepted the offer of counseling sessions. By October
1, 2017, the District will provide documentation to OCR confirming that the sessions
took place or that they were forfeited.
2. Within 30 days after this agreement is signed, the District will submit documentation
to OCR confirming that it has contacted the Complainant and offered to provide fifty
academic tutoring sessions to the Student. If the offer for tutoring sessions is
accepted, within 15 days of the acceptance, the District will notify OCR by letter or
email that the Complainant has accepted the offer of tutoring sessions. On January 1,
2018, the District wills submit documentation to OCR confirming that the sessions
took place or that they were forfeited.
B. Anti-Harassment Statement
By November 15, 2016, the District will submit to OCR for its review and approval a
draft of its anti-harassment statement. Within 30 calendar days of receipt of notice of
OCR’s approval, the District will submit to OCR documentation that the statement
has been sent to all students and parents. The documentation shall include a copy of
the statement, a description of the means by which it was disseminated (email or
postal mail), and a link to the statement on the District’s website.
C. Written Guidance and Training
1. Within 30 days of the training provided pursuant to Section III.B, the District will
submit a draft of the guidance memorandum on the District’s harassment policies and

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procedures to OCR for review and approval. The District will finalize the guidance
memorandum within 30 days of receiving OCR’s comments.
2. Within 30 days of finalizing the guidance memorandum, the District will provide will
provide OCR with draft training materials and the qualifications of the individuals
providing the training as required under Section III.A for OCR review and approval.
Within 30 days of OCR’s approval, the District will notify OCR of the date of the
training.
3. Within 30 days after the training date, the District will provide OCR with
documentation that it has provided training on the District’s harassment policies and
procedures to all administrators, faculty, and staff as required under Section III.A.
The documentation will include the dates of the training, the names and titles of the
trainer(s), a copy of any materials used or distributed during the training, and a list of
District employees who attended the training.
4. By January 30, 2017, the District will provide will provide OCR with draft
orientation materials and the qualifications of the individuals providing the
orientation as required under Section III.C., for OCR review and approval.
5. By October 31, 2017, and by the same date in the subsequent year, the District will
provide OCR with documentation that it has provided the student orientation on the
District’s harassment policies as required under Section III.C. The documentation will
include the dates of the training, the names and titles of the trainer(s), a copy of any
materials used or distributed during the orientation, and a list indicating which
students attended and/or failed to attend the orientation.
6. By November 15, 2016, the District will submit to OCR for review and approval the
instructional materials for the Spring 2017 lessons as required under Section III.D. By
June 30, 2017, the District will submit to OCR for review and approval the
instructional materials for the Fall 2017 semester lessons. By October 15, 2017, the
District will submit to OCR for review and approval the instructional materials for the
Spring 2018 semester lessons. The documentation will include the names of the
individuals designated to implement the aforementioned programming and a timeline
for the delivery of the curriculum. Within thirty days after the conclusion of the
Spring 2017, Fall 2017, and Spring 2018 semesters, after receiving OCR’s approval,
the District will provide OCR with documentation that the lessons have been
implemented. The documentation will include the dates of the programming, the
names and titles of the instructors, a copy of any materials used or distributed, and a
list indicating the students who attended the programming by either class and/or
grade.

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D. Climate Survey
1. Within sixty days of the date this agreement is signed, the District will submit a draft
plan for school climate assessments for OCR review and approval. The draft plan will
include an assessment timeline, the teacher, student, and parent survey instrument,
and a description of how the assessment will be conducted and data reviewed.
2. Within sixty days of OCR’s approval of the plan for school climate assessments, the
District will provide OCR with documentation of the administration of the school
climate assessment. The documentation will include, at a minimum, the date(s) the
survey was administered, the survey results, the District’s analysis of the survey
results, and the proposed responsive actions the District took or will take to remedy
the school climate, if necessary, for OCR review and approval.
E. Maintenance of Data
By July 31, 2017, the District will provide to OCR copies of the documentation of
any complaint or other report of racial harassment toward any student at the School
for the 2016-2017 school year.
The District understands that OCR will not close the monitoring of this agreement until OCR
determines that the recipient has fulfilled the terms of this Agreement and is in compliance with
the regulations implementing Title VI and its implementing regulations, at 34 C.F.R. Part 100,
which were at issue in this case.
The District understands that by signing this agreement, it agrees to provide data and other
information in a timely manner in accordance with the reporting requirements of this agreement.
Further, the District understands that during the monitoring of this agreement, if necessary, OCR
may visit the District, interview staff and students, and request such additional reports or data as
are necessary for OCR to determine whether the District has fulfilled the terms of this
Agreement and is in compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulations, at 34 C.F.R.
Part 100, which were at issue in this case.
The District understands and acknowledges that OCR may initiate administrative enforcement or
judicial proceedings to enforce the specific terms and obligations of this Agreement. Before
initiating administrative enforcement (34 C.F.R. §§ 100.9, 100.10), or judicial proceedings to
enforce this Agreement, OCR shall give the District written notice of the alleged breach and
sixty (60) days to cure the alleged breach.

____________/s/_______________________

_____09/26/2016____

Superintendent or District Representative

Date