LAS VEGAS (FOX5) -
The Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday it has filed formal discrimination complaints against the Clark County School District for what it said was the lack of action the district took to protect two bullied students.
The complaint filed with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission stemmed from harassment made by Greenspun Junior High School students to two other students who the ACLU claimed were harassed for their perceived sexual orientation.
The ACLU said they were repeatedly called names and, in one incident, one of them was physically assaulted by another student.
"They left physical scratches and marks on one of the boy's legs and the other boy was stabbed in the genitals with a pencil by one of the students," said Katrina Rogers with the ACLU.
School officials apparently took no action and a formal complaint by parents of one of the harassed students went ignored, the complaint said.
The ACLU based the complaint on Nevada laws that said harassment in places of public accommodation, like schools in CCSD, was illegal.
"They knew about it. They have policies in place and they have laws in place in the state of Nevada to prevent this behavior and protect student's rights. Nothing was done for months after being notified that this problem was continuing," Rogers added.
The ACLU also called on the district to improve procedures in reporting and dealing with harassment, including annual training.
Amanda Fulkerson, Chief Communications Officer for Clark County School District, released the following statement in response to the complaint:
"It is my understanding that the ACLU has informed media about a lawsuit involving CCSD students. We have not yet been served the formal lawsuit and have no details on the complaint other than it involves some form of bullying. Student safety is the top priority of the District. We will review this issue and will work with the students, parents and administrators to investigate what happened on the campus that led to the lawsuit. Bullying has been a focus this past school year. We are stepping up efforts to prevent, report and take action against bullies this coming schools year. The Office of Equity and Diversity recently hosted a conference for employees on creating safe spaces in schools and has a district-wide training on identifying and reacting to bullying in our schools scheduled as part of our ongoing commitment to combating this issue. We are committed to keeping the community informed as we know more about this case."
Stay tuned to FOX5 for the latest on this developing story.
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