F. Policy Against Harassment

Overnight Activities and Off-Campus Trips

Branson will make every effort to ensure the safety and comfort of all students while participating in overnight activities or on off campus school-sponsored trips. In most cases, students who identify as transgender or gender non-binary will share overnight accommodations with students that share the student’s gender identity asserted at school. Branson will work, on a case-by-case basis, to create overnight environments that ensure student safety, comfort, while maximizing social interaction and equal opportunity for participation.

General Policy

Branson strives to be a community in which every individual is treated with respect, courtesy, and sensitivity. It is the policy of the school to provide a learning environment that is free from all forms of discrimination or harassment.

The school will not tolerate discrimination or harassment by students, their family members, the School’s employees or contractors or harassment based on an individual’s race, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or disability.

This policy applies to conduct between Branson students and conduct by members of the Branson community toward Branson students at any time, whether on or off school property and whether or not during school activities. Additionally, the school forbids retaliation of any kind against any individual who reports an incident of harassment.

Violation of these policies constitutes just and reasonable cause for appropriate disciplinary action. Such action will be in accordance with disciplinary policies outlined in this Handbook, in alignment with the Major Rules and Expectations, and may be subject to change as determined by the senior administration.

Harassment Defined

Examples of prohibited harassment may include but are not limited to the following:

● Epithets, derogatory jokes, slurs, or any other verbal behavior that causes disturbance, that is unwelcome, and/or is coercive. ● Micro/macroaggressions based on race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, language, etc. ● Cyberbullying of any kind ● The sending of sexually explicit or nude photos by any means

● Visual displays, written communication, or gestures that defame, denigrate or in any way discriminates against an individual or group of individuals ● Unwanted physical conduct and/or threatening behavior

Sexual Harassment Defined

In addition to the examples of harassment described above, for the purposes of this policy, sexual harassment is defined to also include:

Adult-to-student interaction: any sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

Student-to-student interaction: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, written, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. This includes but is not limited to when:

1. such conduct has a negative impact upon the recipient student’s school performance; 2. such conduct adversely affects the educational environment including creating an educational environment that is intimidating, hostile, or offensive; and 3. such conduct affects the services, honors, programs, or activities available to any student at the school.

Student to student sexual harassment is not social or courting behavior. The overriding factor in student to student sexual harassment is that the behavior is uninvited and unwanted and often an assertion of power. Sexual harassment may include: ● physical assault, including rape ● coerced sexual relations ● inappropriate personal questions of a sexual nature ● sexually explicit or suggestive remarks about a person's body, clothing, or sexual activity ● sexually stereotyped or sexually charged insults, humor, or verbal abuse ● public display of sexually explicit, offensive or demeaning objects, photographs, or cartoons ● leering or ogling at a person's body ● unnecessary touching in any form ● demanding sexual favors, accompanied by promises, hints, or threats concerning one's academic status or opportunities ● subtle pressure for sexual activity ● repeated expressions of sexual or "romantic" interest after being informed that the interest is unwelcome.

Reporting Harassment Procedures

Adult-to-Student Harassment

Any student or guardian that believes a student has been subject to harassment by any adult member of the school’s community, including employees, contractors, volunteers, trustees or family members of other students, should immediately bring this to the attention of the Class Dean, the Dean of Student Life, or the Head of School.

The School will lead an immediate investigation and will take corrective action as appropriate, including, but not limited to, possible disciplinary actions against employees of the school. The school will advise the student subjected to harassment and the student’s parents/guardians of the disposition of the complaint.

Student-to-Student Harassment

Harassment between students will not be tolerated. Any student who believes that they have been harassed should tell the offending student or students to stop. If a student does not feel comfortable doing this or is unable to do so, they should make their concern known to their advisor, Class Dean, or the Dean of Student Life who will take prompt corrective investigative and disciplinary action.

The Class Dean or Dean of Student Life will notify the student who made the complaint and their parents or guardians of the disposition of the complaint as appropriate.

Confidentiality

Records of all complaint resolution proceedings will be maintained by the Head of School and will be kept confidential except as necessary to investigate and take action on complaints, to provide education about or enforce this policy, or as required by law.

Branson’s Protocol for Responding to Suspected Sexual Abuse of Branson Students

The Branson School prioritizes the safety and wellbeing of students through the cultivation of a supportive and educational environment. We want our students to understand how Branson will respond if a student discloses that they have been the victim of sexual abuse.

If you or another student has been the victim of sexual abuse, we encourage you to consider letting someone at the school know. Our aim is to offer support and guidance about ‘next steps, ’

answer any questions, and ensure that we are doing everything possible to create a safe environment for all of our students.

We know that disclosing such sensitive information can be difficult, so we’ve created the following guide to help explain what happens when a student discloses sexual abuse.

While this guide is created with the intent of being as encompassing as possible, each case brings unique circumstances that may necessitate a response that is slightly or altogether different than below.

Regardless of the circumstances, however, our goal is to empower and support students who make reports or who are concerned about others and we will do everything we are able to keep the process transparent to all parties involved.

What is Sexual Abuse?

The focus of the following protocol is sexual abuse, which includes sexual assault, attempted sexual assault or sexual exploitation. Branson has separate policies in this Handbook that provide procedures for addressing bullying and harassment by and of students that does not rise to the level of sexual abuse.

The Branson School prioritizes the safety and well-being of all students and recognizes that sexual misconduct is not limited to heterosexual interactions. In this protocol, we will use the pronoun “they” to avoid heteronormative stereotypes.

Disclosing Sexual Abuse

Step 1: Disclosing Sexual Abuse to Branson

● If a student has been subjected to sexual abuse or is aware of sexual abuse of another student, the student may disclose the sexual abuse to an employee of their choice. ● Students are not obligated to disclose more than they want to the Branson employee and are always allowed to have a friend or family member present with them when disclosing.

Step 2: Branson’s Response to Disclosure

● When a Branson employee receives a report of sexual abuse of a Branson student, that employee will help the student find support and resources. To do so, the Branson employee may contact the School Counselor, Dean of Student Life and/or the Head of

School for assistance. ● Branson will keep the student’s disclosure as confidential as possible, except as necessary to provide support to the student or to comply with legal duties to report sexual abuse of minors.

Step 3: Mandated Reporting

● If a student who is a minor discloses sexual abuse to a Branson employee, the Branson employee will have a duty to call law enforcement or a child protective services agency to report the sexual abuse, because all employees of Branson are “mandated reporters.

As mandated reporters, Branson employees are required to report suspected neglect or abuse of a minor, including sexual abuse. ● A mandated reporter is required to report suspected abuse of a minor they encounter as part of their job to the appropriate agency when the reporter has sufficient information to reasonably suspect that abuse may have occurred, generally on the same day the reporter receives a report of abuse. If more than one mandated reporter at the school is aware of suspected abuse, only one report must be made. ● Once a mandated reporter has reported sexual abuse, the agency (and not Branson) will determine the agency that should conduct an investigation. If an agency conducts an investigation, a representative of the agency may want to speak directly to the student(s) involved. This can happen at school, at the student’s home, or at the agency location. If the agency interviews a student on campus, the student is allowed to have a Branson employee or family member present for support. ● Unless doing so would endanger the welfare of the student(s) or interfere with an agency investigation, Branson will notify parents immediately upon learning that an agency (Child Protective Services, police, etc.) would like to interview or communicate with their child. ● Under California law, mandated reports are confidential, so Branson may not be able to share information about the report or whether a report has been filed, even to the student’s family. In some cases, the investigating agency does not want information about the report disclosed because that may interfere with its ability to conduct an investigation. ● In some cases, a student may want to report the sexual abuse to law enforcement themselves. Branson will support a student in doing so, and if the student prefers, a

Branson employee may be present when the student reports. ● The school is committed to providing support to its students and will encourage students and families to seek out counseling options either through the school counselor or outside of Branson options.

Step 4: Action Within Branson for Sexual Abuse involving other Branson Students

In addition to following the above protocols, the school will take other steps to address sexual abuse of Branson students where it is reported that other Branson students were responsible for the abuse.

● If a student reports that another Branson student was involved in the sexual abuse, the school will address the other student’s conduct by following its disciplinary policies, except that the matter will not be referred to the Community Honor Board . The school will notify parents of all students involved, unless doing so would endanger the welfare of a student or interfere with an active agency investigation.