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POLICY ANALYSIS

Policy Analysis: Hartford Public Schools 5163

Alexander W. LaForest

School of EDD: Administration and Supervision: Educational Leadership, Liberty University

Author Note

Alexander W. LaForest

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alexander LaForest. Email:

alaforest@liberty.edu
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Policy Analysis

Hartford Public School policies have been neatly organized on a website, see Appendix

A. Within this list they have been subdivided into the following categories: Missions Goals and

Objectives, Community Relations, Parent & Community Involvement, Constituent Services,

School Governance Councils, Administration Concepts and Roles, Business & Non-Instructional

Operations, Personnel, Students, Instruction, Bylaws of the Board, and most recently School

Climate Plan. The School Climate Plan is a recent initiative of the Hartford Public School

System that has not been fully adopted as a policy and is still in the planning phase. Many of the

policies put in place were adopted throughout the 1990s and 2000s and revised in subsequent

years with recent revisions in throughout the COVID pandemic.

While there are quite a few policies that cover areas of diversity, Policy 5163

encapsulates harassment specifically targeting intolerance towards multicultural representation

and diversity. Hartford Public Schools (2022) Policy 5163 reads:

It is the policy of the Hartford Board of Education that all faculty, staff and students,

parents and all other members of the school community treat each other with dignity and

respect. All are entitled to freedom from any kind of personal harassment. No form of

harassment will be tolerated. (p.196).

This policy is detailed over the course of seven pages covering aspects of definitions of

harassment, reporting procedures, formation of a harassment prevention team, guidelines for

various stakeholders, outside vendors, enforcement, training, and publication of handled and

resolved issues. Policies that have precise goals and expectations for staff and students are a

necessity. Additionally, policies that trend towards developing and improving behavior and
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interactions are signs of effective leadership (Coley, 2006). This is exactly what Policy 5163

seeks to do.

The Hartford Publics Schools’ policy surrounding harassment is clearly written and is

well detailed with its expectations. Extending beyond the general expectations of behavior, the

policy also dictates how to handle infractions and create training scenarios for students and staff.

These trainings help members practice and understand what might be viewed as harassment

towards various cultures and people with diverse beliefs. While some policies tackling diverse

ethnic backgrounds may be vague, Hartford’s policy is specific with what is allowed and what is

deemed unsatisfactory. However, locating the policies is where difficulty comes into play. On

every page there is a link at the bottom of the screen that is titled Non-Discrimination Policy. By

clicking this link, a general definition of discrimination appears and a note of it not being

tolerated is also posted. This page then links to HPS Policy 4118/4218.1 on Sexual Harassment

last updated in 2005, see Appendix B. The verbiage between the language surrounding the policy

on Sexual Harassment and the webpage titled Non-Discrimination Policy do not align. This then

begs the question to if a true Non-Discrimination Policy does exist. The only way to locate the

list of all board policies is to go through two dropdown menus. With no direct link or series of

clicks, this makes accessing the policies difficult.

Within sensitive school climate scenarios, it is always best to address the heart of the

issue. Direct punishment never solves the main problem, it only teaches one to be afraid of being

in trouble. If this cycle continues, students and staff who continually violate policy may begin to

hide behaviors. With portions of Policy 5163 encompassing training about dealing with

harassment and behaviors leading to harassment, the school board policy leans towards

establishing a better school climate. This can be noted as a caring school climate that provides an
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encouraging environment (Harvey et al. 2013). The detailed aspects of Policy 5163 help to assess

the gravity of the situation and if the student or staff have been through proper trainings to

establish an understanding of the norms. The prevention of harassment in schools through Policy

5163 seeks out the formation of a team of staff members to establish an anti-harassment plan.

With the formation of this team and proper trainings it is the goal to prevent harassment before it

starts, but in the event of issues arising the team then handles them in-house within the school. A

few changes that may need to be made is to have the team of staff members rotate and include a

student representative on the team pending the grade level of the school. By rotating staff

members this ensures that all staff are thoroughly knowledgeable on the policy and certifies that

no one can abuse their position. By including students on the committee, it provides an

additional lens from a student perspective and helps to provide students with more training on

harassment-based issues.

Establishing a succinct and thorough policy is key when developing a set of norms for a

district. Hartford Public Schools does a proficient job when establishing a policy regarding

harassment and discrimination. 1 John 2:9 (New Living Translation, 2013) says, “If anyone

claims, ‘I am living in the light,’ but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in

darkness.” This aspect of scripture that points to believers living in the false pretense of the light

is reflected in the Hartford Publics Schools’ policy. Mainly it is highlighted under their training

protocols. Much to the chagrin of false believers hearing the words but not living the message,

Policy 5163 seeks to correct this issue. By providing trainings on differences of cultural beliefs,

trauma induced PTSD, and racial barriers Hartford Public Schools strives to not only combat

harassment but remove it from schools.

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POLICY ANALYSIS

References

Coley, K. S. (2006). The helmsman: Leading with courage and Wisdom. Purposeful Design.

Hartford Public Schools. (2022). Student Policy. Hartford, CT: Hartford Public Schools Board of

Education. https://www.hartfordschools.org/wp

content/uploads/2022/01/5000_Series_Students_Updated_01182022.pdf

Harvey, J. S. J., Cambron-McCabe, N. H., Cunningham, L. L., & Koff, R. H. (2013). The

superintendent′s fieldbook : A guide for leaders of learning. SAGE Publications.

New Living Translation Bible. (2013). Tyndale House Publishers. (Original work published

1996).
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Appendices

Appendix A: https://www.hartfordschools.org/board-policies-and-plans/

Appendix B: https://www.hartfordschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/4118.31-Sexual-

Harassment.pdf