With one of the lowest completion rates of any local agency, the Department of Education nearly failed a required sexual harassment training course.
According to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ annual report on agency compliance, which was quietly issued last month, the Education Department’s participation percentage for the training that ended last August was 62 percent.
The terrible completion rate comes a year and a half after the Education Department settled a federal sexual assault and harassment case filed by four female middle and high school students of colour with disabilities, two of whom claimed to have been raped. The settlement includes a $700,000 payment to the students as well as vows to enhance regulations regarding sexual assault reporting and investigation.
The training is required of all Education Department personnel, including leadership. The department has 142,000 regular employees.
According to Nelson Mar, senior staff attorney at Legal Services NYC, the nonprofit organisation that brought the case, the Education Department staff appears to have been under pressure, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, and have a lot of other professional development they need to complete.
Still, there aren’t justifications for a poor grade, he claims.
“It’s evident from our case that this has been a continuing issue of staff failing to appropriately confront and respond to sexual harassment,” Mar said. “So it’s frustrating to see the numbers where they are because one would expect that when you’ve been sued, the city would make a greater effort to ensure that they’re not exposing itself to more litigation on this subject.”
The course is unrelated to the settlement, but it is required by Local Law 92, which requires city agency heads to ensure that every employee, intern, and consultant undergoes interactive anti-sexual harassment training on an annual basis.
In May 2018, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio signed 11 measures aimed at combating workplace harassment, one of which requires all municipal agencies, as well as the mayor’s, borough presidents’, comptroller’s, and public advocate’s offices, to provide anti-sexual harassment training to all employees.
De Blasio received blowback a month earlier after suggesting that sexual harassment charges at the Education Department were part of a “hyper complaint dynamic.”
What comes next: According to a representative for the department, education authorities are striving to remind employees that they must finish the training.
“Our top objective is to ensure that all New York City Public Schools and supporting offices remain safe, inviting, and affirming places for students and employees alike,” Jenna Lyle, a DOE spokesman, said in a statement. She stated that the agency provides virtual trainings for school and field offices and is collaborating with staff to organise onsite trainings for non-desk personnel such as food service workers.
Lyle also stated that the agency has requested that DCAS deliver additional training links to employees who have not completed the course before the 30-day deadline, along with direct reminders from the Education Department.
Background: In 2022, the average citywide completion rate was 79 percent, up from 74% the previous year.
According to a DCAS representative, its outreach involves continuing enhancements to training courses. For staff who do not have access to a computer, the agency provides computer-based training as well as in-person, classroom classes.
What else: The Bronx County Public Administrator’s office has a 14 percent rate, the Department of Small Business Services has a 66 percent rate, and the Department of Prison has a 72 percent rate.
According to Frances Santana of the Bronx County Public Administrator, the agency has only seven staff but insists on meeting the threshold. An SBS spokeswoman blamed the epidemic for leadership vacancies and promised to work towards full completion. The agency has 339 employees on its payroll. The training had 162 participants at the time, and the agency had 92 vacancies, according to the spokesman.
According to a DOC spokesperson, Robert Gonzalez, the DOC’s new deputy commissioner of training and development, is focused on ensuring personnel stay current on specialised trainings and professional development.
