Running Head: IMPATIENT PARENTS CASE ANALYSIS 1

Impatient Parents Case Analysis

Donna Meda

Grand Canyon University: EAD 519

November 4th, 2020

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Part 1: Case Analysis

1. Brief summary of the case
The mom of a sophomore student is stating that her daughter is being harassed
inside and outside of school by a male student in her math class. She notified the
geometry teacher, but hasn’t heard back from him/her. She contacted the assistant
principal and is expecting her to solve the issue as soon as possible.
2. Identify the issues to be resolved
A sophomore student is being harassed by her classmate and his friends.
3. Stakeholders involved in the issues
Mrs. Lemming-mom
Sophomore daughter
Geometry Teacher (other teachers, as well)
Assistant principal
Receptionist
Male classmate
Friends of male classmate
Male classmate’s parents
4. One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues
L.W. v. Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education (A-111-05)
Argued November 13, 2006 -- Decided February 21, 2007

5. District policies that relate to the issues

The School has a zero tolerance policy regarding discrimination, harassment and
bullying. Any person that knows or suspects that a student or students are being
discriminated, harassed or bullied shall notify the Administration immediately.
Upon receipt of a bullying allegation or complaint, the Dean of Students will
investigate the incident and prepare a written report for the Principal. If the
investigation determines that bullying has taken place, appropriate disciplinary
action will be taken according to the School’s policies and procedures for
discipline. Any student who is found to have retaliated against anyone reporting
an incident of discrimination, bullying or harassment will be disciplined. This
policy is in place to maintain order at the School and therefore addresses all forms
of discrimination, bullying and misconduct, whether it be physical, 45 verbal,
environmental, or cyber, and whether it occurs on school grounds or at outside
school-sponsored activities.
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C. Harassment: As set forth in A.R.S. § 13-2921, harassment is any conduct that

is directed at a specific person and that would cause a reasonable person to be
seriously alarmed, annoyed, or harassed and the conduct in fact seriously alarms,
annoys or harasses the person. As it relates to the School environment, harassment
is conduct that substantially or unreasonably interferes with an individual’s
academic performance, adversely affects the targeted individual’s learning
opportunities, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment. A
student engages in harassment when they do the following, among other things:
a. Anonymously or otherwise contacts, communicates or causes a communication
with another person by verbal, electronic, mechanical, telegraphic, telephonic or
written means in a manner that harasses;
b. Continues to follow another person in or about a public place for no legitimate
purpose after being asked to desist;
c. Repeatedly commits an act or acts that harass another person; or
d. Surveils or causes another person to surveil a person for no legitimate purpose.
Harassment includes sexual harassment. Sexual harassment includes all
unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and verbal or physical
contacts of a sexual nature whenever submission to such conduct interferes with a
student's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive school
environment. Examples of behaviors that could be considered sexual harassment
include touching, pulling at clothes, verbal comments, sexual name-calling,
sexual rumors, too personal a conversation, blocking, gestures, and sexual
jokes/cartoons/pictures.
Behavior may be considered discrimination, harassment or bullying whether it
takes place on campus, at any school sponsored function, in a school vehicle, or,
in the case of cyber-bullying, if the behavior significantly disrupts any aspect of
the school environment, whether it occurs on-campus or off-campus.
Any incidents of discrimination, harassment or bullying that include possible
child abuse or violations of Arizona statutes will be reported to law enforcement
as required by law. (Sonoran Science Academy-Peoria, 2020)
6. Possible solutions to the issues
*Assistant principal investigates the allegations profoundly by speaking with all
parties. If the allegations are true, consequences will be given. If the allegations
are false, parents will be informed through a meeting.
*Assistant principal will insist for a formal written complaint form from Mrs.
Lemming and sophomore daughter before any other actions. A formal written
complaint is needed to continue with the investigation. Once the formal complaint
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is submitted, the assistant principal will continue with the investigation by asking
all parties for their input. The process will continue.
*Assistant principal talks to both parties and determines no one is in trouble.
Apologies are exchanged for miscommunication or consequences will be given
right away.
*Assistant principal lets principal know about the allegations and lets the
principal take actions when she/he comes back.
7. The solutions chosen to resolve the issues
Based on our school’s policies:
*Assistant principal will insist for a formal written complaint form from Mrs.
Lemming and sophomore daughter before any other actions. A formal written
complaint is needed to continue with the investigation. Once the formal complaint
is submitted, the assistant principal will continue with the investigation by asking
all parties for their input. The process will continue by sharing the information
gathered to the Title IX Coordinator. Our Title IX Coordinator is our principal.
8. Action steps (2-5) for implementing each solution, including a timeline for each step
1. Assistant principal will explain to mom that a formal written complaint form is
needed in order to continue with the process.
2. Once the formal complaint form is submitted, the assistant principal will continue
with the investigation by pulling out students from their class and ask each other
for their input. Friends of students will also be asked to share their input.
Assistant principal gathers the information and gives it to the Title IX Coordinator
of our school which is our principal.
3. Principal will inform parents of the male classmate about the allegations. Both
parties and their parents need to know about the situation and what the allegations
are.
4. Principal sends the information gathered to the district’s decision makers. The
decision makers should make sure both parties have the information gathered
including interviews and written questions with answers. If new evidence is
presented, the evidence must be on the formal written complaint form or a new
one should be filed.
5. A determination is issued including the determination of responsibility, any
disciplinary actions, and any remedies. Appeals may also be necessary in case of
new evidence.
9. Potential moral and legal consequences of each solution
Something must be done to solve the issue. Legal consequences may be in place
for the school if the school decides not to do anything about the allegations of
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harassment especially because of the policies in place including the zero tolerance
policy.
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Part 2: Rationale
A sophomore student is being harassed by another student in her math class. It is believed

that this same student is also anonymously calling and bothering the sophomore student at home.

These allegations are very common, but should still be taken serious.

As the assistant principal following my school’s policies and procedures which also

reflect the vision and mission of our school, I would insist for Mrs. Lemming and her daughter to

stay to fill out a formal written complaint form with the detailed allegations. If Mrs. Lemming

would continue to refuse to stay because of work, I would communicate with her that I can only

investigate the issue, but no further actions can be done due to our policies in place. Hopefully,

this will let Mrs. Lemming know how important this is to us as much as it is to her and her

family.

In my personal and professional experience at my school, I just received and trained our

school’s staff on the process of these type of complaints. I used what I have learned to determine

the path of this situation. I would follow the Title IX New Regulations of my school to continue

with the process. As the assistant principal, I can only make sure the formal written complaint

form is submitted by the mother and her daughter, I can make the investigations by interviewing

the male classmates, his classmates, the daughter, and their geometry teacher, and I can

encourage the geometry teacher to respond to Mrs. Lemming’s email by reassuring that the

harassment will stop and of course, taking the necessary actions towards the aggressor. I can

gather all information together to give to the Title IX Coordinator which in our school, it would

be our principal. She is the only one who has the right in our school to complete the following

steps including to communicate the information with the parents from both parties. Parents

should be informed about the process by the principal. Should the parents be informed before the
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investigation or after? For my school, it depends on the situation. Usually, my principal takes

care of the investigation right away before calling parents. Some parents might want to be

present during their child’s interview. Other parents might bring in a lawyer to be present, as

well.

It makes sense to me to have the Title IX Regulations in place for these accusations and

complaints. This process ensures that students from both parties are being treated fairly

according to our school’s vision and mission for the well-being of all our students, that a proper

process is being followed, and that there are consequences in place for the offenders. It also

shows a fair collaboration between all parties and the school to gather the information needed for

the allegations to stop.

In this case, since Mrs. Lemming isn’t staying for a formal meeting, she emailed the

geometry teacher and it seems like she is mainly bothered by this, and she wants me as the

assistant principal to do something about it to stop the harassment, it might just take the assistant

principal to talk to the geometry teacher about the situation, so he/she can do something about it

in class. The aggressors might just need a warning to stop harassing the student. Knowing that

some allegations are about incidents happening outside of school, it doesn’t mean that this male

classmate is responsible for those calls. It might be too early to call it, so just in case, the process

might still be put in place for documentation purposes, a follow up, or for the start of a longer

investigation and case.

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References:
Education Law Center. (2020). L.W. v. Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education (A-
111-05) Argued November 13, 2006 -- Decided February 21, 2007. Retrieved from
https://edlawcenter.org/issues/bullying.html
Sonoran Science Academy-Peoria. (2020). Discrimination, harassment, and bullying: Sonoran
Science Academy-Peoria Student and Parent Handbook, 2020-2021.
Sonoran Science Academy-Peoria. (2020). Title IX New Regulations.