Officials in a Massachusetts public school system are reportedly urging students and staff to issue complaints against one another for telling politically incorrect jokes and other “incidents of bias,” according to equity protocol documents.
Wellesley Public Schools maintains a policy on “Responding to Incidents of Bias or Discrimination” that outlines ways for students and parents to file reports against peers who violate the policy, according to district documents released by Parents Defending Education, a nonprofit group focused on fighting so-called activist agendas in schools.
In related instances, courts have found policies such as the ones enforced by Wellesley Public Schools are a concern for First Amendment rights. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2020 that a similar peer reporting policy at the University of Texas “represents the clenched fist in the velvet glove of student speech regulation.”
The Wellesley policy states: “Discrimination based on ancestry, race, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability or any other state or federally protected category is not tolerated.”
District policy framers define an incident of bias as “any biased conduct, speech or expression that has an impact but may not involve criminal action, but demonstrates conscious or unconscious bias that targets individuals or groups that are part of a federally protected class.”
If a student notices anyone in violation of the policy, he or she is encouraged to report “any concerning pattern of biased behavior” to a district staff member or trusted adult.
Students may report incidents anonymously, although the district policy noted reports without an attached identity are more difficult to investigate.
The policy has existed since 2019, but Parents Defending Education only recently called it to attention. President and founder of the concerned parents group, Nicole Neily, said the policy intends to silence debate among classroom peers.
“Creating the expectation that authority figures can — or should — adjudicate all interpersonal disputes isn’t just denying children the opportunity to develop better interpersonal skills. It’s also a slippery slope to big government,” Neily wrote in an op-ed for Real Clear Education on Monday.
A number of other school districts across the country have become embattled by parents raising issues about the curriculum their students are taught in public schools and the level of control districts can exert on free speech.
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The Washington Examiner contacted Wellesley Public Schools but did not immediately receive a response.
