Heidi Goldstein

Berkeley High School, or BHS, is planning to initiate sexual harassment and prevention lessons for students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades in spring 2018.

Members of BHS Stop Harassing piled into the Berkeley Unified School District board meeting Wednesday to protest the district’s policies and processes regarding sexual harassment and assault.

On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill asking the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to consider requiring that sexual harassment prevention be taught in California public schools.

Berkeley High School has implemented an updated policy this coming school year to combat sexual assault.

At a meeting Wednesday, the Berkeley Unified School District board passed an interim sexual harassment policy, identical to the policy of the California School Board Association.

The policy, created by the California School Boards Association, lays out guidelines for the district superintendent as to how to educate students about sexual harassment issues, and also delineates disciplinary actions to be taken by schools against sexual harassment offenders.

The federal Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation in January to address complaints from Berkeley High School students, who allege the school district committed a federal offense under Title IX by failing to respond adequately to sexual assault and harassment cases.