Dignity for All Students Act

What is it?

A student’s ability to learn and to meet high academic standards, and a school's ability to educate its students is compromised by incidents of discrimination or harassment including bullying, taunting, or intimidation.
The Dignity Act makes it the official policy of New York State that all students in public schools have the right to an education free of discrimination and harassment.  The Dignity Act includes, but is not limited to, acts of discrimination and harassment based on a student’s race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender (defined to include gender identity or expression), or sex.

The Dignity Act defines material incidents of harassment as a single incident or a series of related incidents where a student is subjected to harassment and/or discrimination by a student or school employee on school property or at a school function that creates a hostile environment by conduct, with or without physical contact and/or by verbal threats, intimidation or abuse, of such a severe or pervasive nature that:

• has or would have the effect of unreasonably interfering with a student's educational performance, opportunities or benefits, or mental, emotional, and/or physical well-being; or
• reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a student to fear for his or her physical safety.