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The Tennessee Conservative –
The Knox County School Board will vote Thursday on a proposal that would remove specific classifications of students from their anti-discrimination policies, replacing it instead with more generalized terminology as required in Tennessee State law.
One policy change would involve an adjustment to the district policy on harassment.
Currently, the policy reads that the school system does not “tolerate harassment for any reason including, but not limited to, harassment on the basis of actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, religion, race, color or any other Federally identified protected area.”
The updated policy would simply say that they do not “tolerate harassment on any basis.”
Their equal educational opportunities policy would also be changed. It currently states, “all students shall have the same opportunities with regard to programs and activities regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex or disabilities.”
The new policy would read, “All students shall have equal opportunities with regard to programs and activities.”
Several board members have questioned the changes, asking if they were required to remove the specific language.
According to KCS law director Gary Dupler, state law mandates the policy changes. However, he noted, federal law offers more specific protections in cases of harassment, and Dupler said that federal law precedes state law.
Board member Anne Templeton asked if they could update the policies as mandated but also add additional specific protections.
“That would be a question for the legislature,” said Dupler. “As the legislature typically does, they didn’t give a whole lot of explanation here.”
