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Nondiscrimination and Ethics Training and Reporting
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Nondiscrimination

Starfish Scholars ("The School") does not discriminate in employment or the provision of educational services on the basis of race, color, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, citizenship status, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

 

Discrimination Policy

Our School has updated its policy related to nondiscrimination and bullying this school year. No person shall be subjected to discrimination or bullying on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, age, sex gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

 

Any student who feels that they are being harassed, bullied, or discriminated against, or who observes an incident of harassment, bullying, or discrimination, should immediately contact the Director. Student or parent complaints will be investigated in a manner that protects the confidentiality of the parties. The School will maintain a record of all reported cases of unlawful discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying.

 

Starfish Scholars Student Disability Non-Discrimination Policy

1) Starfish Scholars  (“SS”) is committed to providing a fine education to all of its students. As part of that commitment, SS makes its programs and services available on a non-discriminatory basis, including to students with disabilities as defined under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

 

2) SS has designated an ADA Compliance Officer who reviews all decisions not to enroll a student with a disability, or to disenroll a student with a disability. The ADA Compliance Officer also prepares modification plans in consultation with the applicable SS school and notifies the parent/guardian about decisions to deny a modification or to disenroll for ADA related reasons.

 

3) SS may make necessary inquiries into the existence of a disability. SS imposes or applies only those eligibility criteria that are necessary for the provision of SS programs and services.

 

4) In accordance with the ADA, SS makes reasonable modifications as necessary to afford SS programs and services to students with disabilities. Modifications are not reasonable if they would result in a fundamental alteration, impose undue burdens on the School, its students or its staff or present a direct threat to health or safety. 

 

5) SS will make reasonable modifications to programs and services at the request of a disabled student’s parent/guardian. A request for modification made by a parent/guardian must be made to any SS Director, Assistant Director and/or SS' ADA Compliance Officer. Such request may be made orally or in writing. If a parent/guardian discusses a proposed reasonable modification with a teacher or assistant teacher, the teacher or assistant teacher is obligated to report the request to the Assistant Director, Director or SS' ADA Compliance Officer, who will respond to the modification request. Parents are expected to cooperate in the modification process by promptly providing information reasonably requested by SS about the child’s condition, the condition’s duration and severity, the modifications necessary to permit the child to participate in SS's programs and services, and a description of the circumstances in which SS should notify the parent/guardian of changes in a student’s condition or seek emergency medical attention.

 

6) Nothing in the Policy is intended to cause SS to violate any provision of any state, local or municipal law. SS is entitled to refuse to enroll or disenroll a student in accordance with the provisions of the ADA, state, local or municipal law and the Policy as well as for reasons not related to the child’s abilities.

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Ethics Training and Reporting

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Reporting of Ethical Misconduct is required by law and is our duty as professionals entrusted with the safety and welfare of students every day. For the Florida Schools, Florida Statute section 39.203 and section 768.095 protect the person reporting ethical misconduct from reprisal by the individual reported or the employer if the report was made in good faith without malicious intent.

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Nondiscrimination and Reporting Policy

Our school faculty (irrespective of position held) are obligated to report misconduct which affects the safety, health, or welfare of a student. The following are examples of misconduct: Drug and alcohol use inappropriate /disparaging comments, sexual innuendo, cheating or testing violations, physical aggression, prejudice, or bigotry, and accepting or offering favors. Reports of misconduct of employees should be made to:  Sandy Montoya, COO at Sandy.Montoya <at> oldschoolacademies.com Reports of misconduct committed by administrators should be made to: Destiny Walinski-Wilson, V.P of Operations at Destiny <at> oldschoolacademies.com


Legally sufficient allegations of misconduct by Florida certified educators will be reported to the Office of Professional Practices Services.

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Parents, students, and employees should regularly visit the public registry to review it for individuals who may have prior criminal records and sex offenses. Information concerning registered sex offenders and predators in Florida may be obtained by visiting http://www.fdle.state.fl.us, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sexual Offenders database. Information may also be obtained by contacting the FDLE’s toll free telephone number: 1-888-FL-PREDATOR (1-888-357-7332).

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The school performs criminal-background checks on its employees and volunteers with unsupervised access to children, but cannot attest to the background of the various parents with whom their child may associate away from school.

In cases of suspected Physical Abuse, Sexual abuse or Neglect the employee should report those issues immediately to the 1-800-96Abuse hotline.

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Notice: All employees will be required to complete ethics training on an annual basis as a condition of their employment.

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