Brody's Notes... Tehachapi California Unified School District Under Investigation In Death Of Gay Teenager Seth Walsh

By Mark Singer (Washington DC) DEC 23 | The U. S. Department of Education has launched a probe into the handling of complaints by the mother of 13 year old Seth Walsh who committed suicide last fall as the result of bullying he received in the middle school he attended. A spokesperson for Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Justin Hamilton, confirmed that the federal inquiry was active saying:

“The probe was launched in response to a complaint from Seth Walsh's mother that Tehachapi Unified School District employees had failed to adequately address the years of bullying that preceded her son's death last Sept. 28."

The Department of Education statutorily has the power to investigate schools where bullying is so severe, there is a resulting “hostile environment” for students who are, or are thought to be, LGBTQ. Investigators from the department's civil rights division are trying to determine if employees of the Tehachapi Unified School District failed to address bullying that preceded the teen's death.

Seth's mother Wendy Walsh is being supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, which last week sent a letter to the school district on her behalf asking it to prevent another tragedy. The ACLU also launched a media campaign to raise  awareness of the severity of the problem of Ant-Gay bullying which the organisation's  spokesperson says that at least 11 US LGBT teenagers have killed themselves after suffering bullying in the last few months.
Wendy Walsh told reporters inquiring these most recent developments, that investigators from the Education Department had spent two days in the school district last week prior to the school going on Christmas Holiday break, interviewing students, teachers, and administrators.

Mrs Walsh also said she had contacted Department of Education investigators while her son lay in hospital in a coma in the nine days before he died.

DOE spokesman Justin Hamilton also said that the Department had released a national memorandum on December 16th, addressing the bullying issue.In response to requests for assistance from state and local officials across the country following a rash of bullying-related suicides.
Hamilton said that the memo distributed to state leaders outlines key components of strong state bullying laws and policies. The technical assistance memo is intended to serve as a reference for state and local officials developing or revising anti-bullying legislation or policies. He also noted that in announcing the memo's release, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had said:

“We need the commitment from everyone at the federal, state and local level to put an end to bullying. I hope that highlighting these best practices will help policymakers as they work to keep our children safe and learning.”

The memo, which was sent to all governors, chief state school officers and state education boards, is part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to prevent bullying in schools. In the memo, the Department compiled key components of existing anti-bullying laws from 29 states. The laws were divided into 11 categories, which ranged from listing examples of bullying behavior to specifying procedures for investigating incidents.
Several states are leaders in their bullying policies. For example, Florida law specifically defines prohibited conduct, and Kansas law clearly covers “cyberbullying.” Washington state regulations require school officials and employees to tell certain personnel about any bullying they are aware of, and Georgia prohibits retaliation against those who report incidents. And in Massachusetts, the state policy includes a provision to provide training to an extensive list of staff members to help them prevent, identify and respond to bullying.
In addition to the memo, education officials are preparing a comprehensive summary of state anti-bullying laws and conducting a study of how those laws are implemented in the hopes that the data could further guide states in crafting effective regulations.

“We have all been told that bullying has been going on in our schools forever. But we can stop it now,” Duncan said. “Strong anti-bullying policies instill a climate that this behavior will not be tolerated.”

"They put this on their very important list, their priority list," Seth's mother Wendy Walsh told the Associated Press. "Obviously, there must be a big problem that needs to be addressed, and it isn't just around Seth. It's the whole nation."