The Washoe County School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to implement a new policy in the school district that prohibits hazing.
The school board is adopting the same policy that many universities have, including the University of Nevada, Reno, which defines hazing as any activity that causes mental, emotional, and physical harm to a student that involves groups and organizations within the school district, including athletics.
"We do already have policies in place against bullying and then also safe and respectful learning environments, but we needed to directly address hazing and to take a public position on being against it," said Beth Smith, President of the school board.
You may remember us reporting last year the school district temporarily suspending all activities of the Galena High School baseball program after a lawsuit was filed alleging some hazing activities.
A few months prior to that we also reported a North Valleys High School cheerleader receiving an award full of insults from her coach.
"Unfortunately hazing is far too often seen as 'boys will be boys' or 'girls will be girls' and that's kind of had some quasi-acceptance and that needs to end," said Neil Rombardo, Chief General Counsel for the school board in the meeting.
Smith says she agrees that this is a discussion that's long overdue but she's glad that they're addressing it now.
After some discussion on the policy, the board voted to move forward with it and not only focus on discipline and punishment but also have a goal to teach students how to be better.
"Our chief legal counsel also talked about how our counseling department to support not just the students who may have been the victim of hazing but also the students that are perpetrating it so that they understand so that they understand why this isn't okay," said Smith.
She says all students in clubs, teams, and organizations deserve to be safe.
"They deserve to be respected, they should not be bullied, harassed, or hazed," she said. "And today our school district took a public stance on that so there can be no questions whatsoever what our expectations are."
This is just the first step to the approval process. The next steps will be the mandatory 13-day public review period. The policy will then be scheduled at a later meeting for final approval.
