U.S. Department Of Education Report Concludes Tehachapi Unified School District "Did Not Adequately Investigate Or Respond Appropriately" To Bullying Of Seth Walsh

Tehachapi Unified School District "did not adequately investigate or respond appropriately" to the bullying of a gay, 13-year-old middle school student who hung himself in September due to the harassment, a seven-month U.S. Department of Education investigation has found, The Bakersfield Californian reporting that for violating a civil rights act that prohibits harassment based on nonconformity with gender stereotypes, the district now must begin a slew of steps to prevent sexual and gender-based harassment at all of its schools, according to a "resolution agreement." That includes revising policies and regulations related to sexual and gender-based harassment, hiring a consultant to provide mandatory training for all students, administrators, teachers, counsellors and other staff who interact with students; and the district will consistently track and survey the school on issues related to sex-based harassment. The conclusion of the investigation comes seven months after Seth Walsh hanged himself in his backyard. In a suicide note he expressed anger at his school "for bringing you this sorrow." "All students have the right to go to school without fearing harassment on the basis of their sex, including because they do not conform to gender stereotypes. Seth's story and others like it sadly demonstrate that a school's failure to address and prevent harassment can have tragic consequences," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the department's Civil Rights Division. "We commend the school district for working with the departments to address this matter effectively and encourage other school districts to take affirmative steps to ensure that all students can go to school without facing discrimination and harassment." The department's Office of Civil Rights investigation was the first department investigation of bullying since October, when it sent out letters to school districts setting guidelines for bullying prevention and warning of reprimands to those who didn't follow them -- loss of federal funding. Seth's mother, Wendy Walsh, has told The Californian that Seth told her he was gay when he was in the sixth grade. Over a period of years, he was ridiculed, harassed and physically attacked by students. His grades declined dramatically, she said. School officials have said teachers and administrators at Jacobsen Middle School (where Seth attended before he chose to be homeschooled) were caring, that all reported incidents were dealt with and that additional measures have been instituted since his death. Officials at the 1,100-student district could not be immediately reached. District offices and schools are closed today. The investigation -- which included interviews with Seth's family, friends, district staff and administrators and about 75 classmates -- found that Seth was harassed by peers for more than two years for being gay, which interfered with his education."And despite having notice of the harassment, the district did not adequately investigate or otherwise respond to it, the department states. According to the resolution agreement, Tehachapi Unified disagrees with and disputes the department's findings, but the school board "wishes to clearly communicate its commitment to ensuring an educational environment free from harassment, in which the individual civil and constitutional rights of each student are protected." Wendy Walsh did not wish to comment on the findings Friday, and referred questions to her Bakersfield attorney, Daniel Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who was not immediately available for comment, is representing Walsh in a wrongful death lawsuit against Tehachapi Unified. Seth's story has inspired a number of initiatives in his memory throughout California meant to address bullying in schools, specifically gender-based harassment. A state bill called Seth's Law, which would create an anti-bullying system at all California schools by creating anti-harassment policies and programs in schools that don't have them already, has been passed by the Assembly and heads to the Senate. And the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California recently launched the "Seth Walsh Students' Rights Project," an initiative aimed at combating bullying and discrimination in California schools, particularly against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students.