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Rooting out Hatred: Overview of the new Discrimination Report system at WKHS By: Malcolm Saas

The goal of most schools in our world is to provide a safe environment where students can learn and grow into mature, responsible individuals who will contribute greatly to our society. However, some students in the Worthington City School District feel like they don’t have a safe space in order to learn and grow, feeling outcast and forced to create instagram pages such as Dear Worthington, to protest and share their stories about the problems they have faced at the school. To combat this, WKHS now has a new “Discrimination Report” system that students can use when they feel that they have been discriminated against on school grounds.

So how does it work? Toya Spencer, The Director of Diversity for the Worthington School District gives the facts and inner workings of the Discrimination Report system. “There are two ways in which a Worthington student or staff can report an incident of discrimination, File an on-line report, in this on-line form you would add the required information outlining the details of the incident. Call the DEI helpline, you can call anytime to leave a message reporting an incident of discrimination [for both of these] I will respond as soon as possible”.

One Thing that many students worry about is their privacy. Some students really don’t care if they have their personal information used but a lot of students do. Spencer had something to say on the topic of students being anonymous. “Given that we intend to investigate and provide resolution to acts of discrimination, we ask for the name(s) of the person targeted and the name(s) of the alleged aggressor(s) so that we can investigate the incident. So, it is not possible for the investigation to be conducted if people are not named or one wishes to submit the form "anonymously." However, as with all investigations handled by Worthington Administration, we will keep the details of investigations confidential” she said. The good news is that so far, no one has filed a report yet.

The system is up and running and students and faculty who have felt they have been discriminated against can file a report at any time using the link below. If you or someone you know has felt wronged or discriminated against by another person, please don't hesitate to seek help.

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