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School harassment
rules may not
wait for election

The board could decide
the gay-language dispute
Nov. 2 on Kauai

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By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

There's nothing to prevent the Board of Education from voting on a controversial set of anti-harassment rules before the Nov. 7 general election, the board chairman said late last night.

Mitsugi Nakashima also said that the final decision on whether the rules will be on the agenda for the Nov. 2 meeting won't be made until next week, but he would like to see the rules taken up at that meeting.

"I would like to see it settled even though I'm running for re-election," said Nakashima, who is involved in setting the agenda. The meeting will be held on Kauai.

The proposed changes to the Chapter 19 rules on student misconduct would prohibit harassment against students based on race and several classifications including "sexual orientation."

Those in favor of the rule change said the sexual orientation language is needed to protect gay and lesbian students who are frequent targets of harassment by other students and by school staff.

Opposition came from those who said that the board shouldn't single out gays and lesbians for special protection. Opponents also said the Board of Education should enforce rules already in place to protect everyone.

Some have said that, with nine Board of Education seats up for election on Nov. 7, the highly-charged issue has become political.

Nakashima's comments came after board members met behind closed doors with state Deputy Attorney General Russell Suzuki about the rules.

Prior to the meeting, Suzuki said his office was concerned that under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibit sexual harassment of students, the state could be held liable if schools don't take action against harassment and if the board doesn't have a clear policy stating that sexual harassment will not be tolerated.

"We're kind of concerned that it's getting politicized," Suzuki said. "There are legal issues that need to be clarified so (the board) can get on with it."

Nakashima said no matter what board members do, someone will not be happy.

"The public perception is that no matter what we say, they're going to say, 'Oh, you guys just sandbag that thing because you didn't want to come out before the election,' " Nakashima said.

If they hold the meeting on Kauai Nov. 2, some will accuse the board of avoiding controversy by taking the issue to a neighbor island, Nakashima said.

But the next Oahu meeting won't come until Nov. 16, or after the election, he said.

The board's Student Services Committee forwarded the rules to the full board three weeks ago without a recommendation on whether to approve them.