A federal investigation found over 180 harassment incidents in the district from 2021 to 2023. As a result of the investigation, the district signed a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in March of this year.
The agreement requires the district to take various measures to provide better resources to students and staff and work to foster a more welcoming community.
However, Superintendent Jill Gildea said in a letter to the community that the district wants to do more than just provide policy-driven changes. So, with the start of the school year, the district has launched the We All Belong campaign.
“Our key priority this next year is really to promote safe, supportive, equitable, inclusive school learning environments for all of our students, staff and patrons,” Gildea said.
The campaign is meant to prevent bullying, harassment and discrimination in Park City schools as well as honor and respect everyone for “who they are, where they come from, and what they believe.” The campaign’s slogan is “no discrimination, no judgment, no hate.”
As part of the campaign, the district will provide support and resource materials to families, teachers and other staff to help build a better sense of belonging in the community. The district will also host school-based community meetings for the campaign.
Gildea told KPCW Friday she hopes the whole community will get involved.
“This is an important conversation, but what does it really mean to belong? What does it mean to create a climate for student success?” she said.
The district has already implemented a standardized harassment reporting system, trained a Title IX coordinator to manage reports of sex-based discrimination, passed policy changes to establish acceptable school behavior, trained staff on what behavior is allowed and administrators how to investigate and resolve incidents.
The harassment reporting form can be found here.
