Help change the culture in schools by acting on S.103
Right now the House Education Committee is looking at a bill (S.103) that would help expand the definition of what counts as harassment for housing, employment, and education. Currently, in order to be defined as harassment under the law it must be “Severe or Pervasive”. Taking out the “Severe and Pervasive” language ensures all harassment will be taken seriously. Vermont education leaders and their insurance company is trying to convince the House Education Committee to exclude students from this bill because they are worried about liability and more work. But why should students have less harassment protection than adults? If anything, they need more protection. We need your help to ensure students are included in this bill!
Why do students need to be included?
Schools should be a place free of harassment and discrimination, and students should be protected. Correcting the "severe or pervasive" standard would make it easier for students with legitimate harassment claims to have their cases heard in court. This would help to fight against harassment and discrimination in schools, and make sure that everyone is treated fairly and respectfully.
Actions you can take:
If your representative is part of the House Education Committee listed below please contact them directly by Friday.
If your representative is not part of the House Education Committee you can send a group email to all the representatives by Friday.
Representatives:
Rep. Peter Conlon, Chair (Addison-2)
Rep. Erin Brady, Vice Chair (Chittenden-2) ebrady@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Casey Toof, Ranking Member Franklin-8 ctoof@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Sarah "Sarita" Austin Chittenden-19 saustin@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Jana Brown Chittenden-1 jbrown@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Nelson Brownell nbrownell@leg.state.vt.us Bennington-1
Rep. Kate McCann Washington 4 kmccann@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Brian Minier Chittenden-11 bminier@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone, Clerk Chittenden-14 mstone@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Chris Taylor Chittenden-Franklin cataylor@leg.state.vt.us
Rep. Terri Lynn Williams Essex-Caledonia twilliams@leg.state.vt.us
Letter Template
Dear Representative ___ (or dear representatives),
I live in ________ (town) and am a _______ (role such as parent, educator, community member, student etc). I am asking you today to ensure that students are included in S. 103. It is highly concerning to think that students should be protected by a lower harassment standard than their adult counterparts. If anything, students are vulnerable and therefore should need more protection.
School harassment and bullying is an important issue to me because _______ (here you can make it personal and share why this issue matters to you).
Please take seriously the protection of our students and ensure they have safe school environments and include them in S 103. I ask that you include students and correct the harassment standards such that the harassment no longer needs to be severe and pervasive in order to qualify as harassment under the law.
It is your duty to protect our students and they should be prioritized.
[Name]
