Loudoun County Public Schools now has a revision in their sexual harassment and sex discrimination policy

The June 26 School Board vote, coming two years after the much-debated policy change on the county level, was passed unanimously.

On Jan. 5, 2010, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to include language in the county’s Human Resources Policy Handbook forbidding discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote sparked heated debate between board members Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who tried to strike down the measure, and then Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles), who voted in favor of the policy.

For LCPS, the policy change was more of a formality, merging two different policies into one concrete plan. The two revised policies address sex discrimination and sexual harassment for LCPS employees and students, serving as two separate policies, respectively.

The School Board’s Legislative and Policy Committee revised both policies June 4 and voted unanimously to send their recommended changes to the board for consideration.

“The changes were technical and intended to eliminate some unnecessary overlap in the policies and to streamline the process for prompt handling of harassment complaints,” Ned Waterhouse, deputy superintendent for LCPS said.

The committee decided to delete Policy 3-2 for sex discrimination and add it to Policy 7-2, which served as the policy for sexual harassment.