PORTLAND, Oregon — Union members within Portland Public Schools continue to slam the district's handling of sexual harassment complaints. Employees said the school district has dismissed victims’ claims for months.
Now, union members have several demands they’d like to see addressed. On Tuesday night, they requested an investigation into the human resource department, to determine how harassment complaints are handled. In a letter to the school board, members wrote that they want an investigation into the human resources department, for ‘failing to follow board policy and federal law to ensure the safety of workers who report sexual harassment.’
"We're not only interested in how much sexual harassment happens in schools, what we're really interested in is how was each complaint handled," David Scholten, a Creston Elementary School teacher said.
Union members also want in-person sexual harassment prevention training established for all workers. Their third demand, was for an independent audit, investigating all sexual harassment claims that have been made since Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero began his tenure.
"The district has responded to complaints of sexual harassment by dismissing the lived reality of victims," SEIU union member Chris Walter said.
In a statement, Portland Public Schools said it prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation of any kind. They said no one has been fired for reporting allegations of sexual harassment. PPS said it also reached out to all employees to ensure that everyone knows how to file a sexual harassment complaint. The statement also said that the district has provided additional in-person sexual harassment prevention training for managers of SEIU members. There is in addition to yearly training for all employees.
These concerns stem from a board meeting in July when a custodian quit, citing sexual harassment. Another custodian said she was fired after reporting harassment.
An English teacher is filing a lawsuit against PPS, in which she claims that she was harassed at multiple schools. In a statement, her lawyer said other teachers have also alleged that they have been retaliated against for reporting sexual harassment.
"It's inaction not only perpetuates a cycle of fear and oppression, but also undermines the very foundation of care and trust upon which education should be built," Walters said.
Union members also want to know if the HR department violated PPS policies or laws in their handling of complaints.
"No one in management has acknowledged the systemic nature of the sexual violence at PPS, let alone sought to address the issue," Angela Bonilla, the union president of Portland Associate of Teachers said.
In July, the unions said they asked PPS to institute in-person sexual harassment training for all employees.
So far, the unions said PPS has not told them of any plans to institute the training they requested.
PPS said it has hired an outside investigator to look into sexual harassment claims. In a statement, a PPS spokesperson said met with SEIU leaders and agreed to a follow-up meeting with all the unions. So far, they said SEIU has not followed up.
Still, union members said more must be done.
"The district's response has been to basically say that there isn't a systemic problem," Scholten said.