Seattle Public Schools

5010 Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action

  1. Nondiscrimination
  2. The District is committed to nondiscrimination in all its education and employment activities. Specifically, the District prohibits discrimination based on sex (gender); race; creed; color; religion; ancestry; national origin; age; economic status; sexual orientation including gender expression or identity; pregnancy; marital status; physical appearance; the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability; honorably-discharged veteran or military status; or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability.

    The Superintendent is authorized to designate an employee to serve as the person responsible for affirmative action and nondiscrimination compliance.

  3. Nondiscrimination – Employment
  4. The District shall provide equal employment opportunity and treatment for all applicants and employees in recruitment, hiring, retention, assignment, transfer, promotion, and training. Such equal employment opportunity shall be provided without discrimination with respect to race; creed; color; religion; ancestry; national origin; age; economic status; gender; sexual orientation including gender expression or identity; pregnancy; marital status; physical appearance; the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability; honorably-discharged veteran or military status; or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability. The District may look at bona fide occupational qualifications when making hiring decisions.

    The District shall comply with all state or national laws, in addition to any Collective Bargaining Agreements (“CBAs”), that may pertain to this subject. This policy shall also be extended to apply to all contractors or vendors serving the District.

  5. Affirmative Action
  6. The District, as a recipient of public funds, has an important interest in a work force that closely mirrors that of the diverse students and families who are served in our schools and shall make employment opportunities known to attract a diverse candidate pool.

    In order to achieve the goal of increasing the representation of minority and multilingual staff members in the workforce, especially in certificated personnel, to the extent allowed by law, the District will make aggressive efforts to recruit, hire, and retain a qualified minority and multilingual workforce.

    The Superintendent is authorized to develop an Affirmative Action Plan. The Affirmative Action Plan shall not conflict with any CBA.

    The Superintendent is directed to employ a variety of short- and long-term strategies to achieve this goal. These strategies may include early recruitment, teacher preparation, targeted recruitment, and relocation incentives.

  7. Employment of Persons with Disabilities
  8. In order to fulfill its commitment of nondiscrimination to those with disabilities, the following conditions shall prevail:

    No qualified person with a disability shall, solely by reason of a disability, be subjected to discrimination, and the District shall not limit, segregate, or classify any applicants for employment or any employee in any way that adversely affects his/her opportunities or status because of a disability. This prohibition applies to all aspects of employment from recruitment to promotions and includes fringe benefits and other elements of compensation.

    The District shall make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified disabled applicant or employee, unless it is clear that an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the District program and is not required by law.

  9. Nondiscrimination for Military Service
  10. The District will not discriminate against any person who is a member of, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an obligation to perform service in a uniformed service, on the basis of that participation in a uniformed service. This includes in initial employment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment. The District also will not discriminate against any person who has participated in the enforcement of these rights under state or federal law.

    The District will not discriminate against any veteran who was dishonorably discharged solely because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected classifications listed in Section I of this policy.

    The Superintendent is authorized to develop procedures for this policy, as necessary.