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01-1906 Schroeder v. Hamilton School District, et al.

By: dmc-admin//March 18, 2002//

01-1906 Schroeder v. Hamilton School District, et al.

By: dmc-admin//March 18, 2002//

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“To prevail, Schroeder needed to demonstrate that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to his complaints. He has conceded, however, that the defendants took some action in response to nearly all of his complaints. Nevertheless, as the district court noted, ‘[a]t times, the plaintiff appears to be taking the position that the defendants are liable merely because the disciplinary and investigative measures they took were less than 100 percent effective.’ The defendants’ failure to address, to Schroeder’s satisfaction, his complaints of harassment does not, however, establish an equal protection violation. Given that the majority of the harassment at issue in this case was anonymous, we are skeptical about whether the defendants could have done much more to prevent the harassment without expending a disproportionate commitment of resources, or fashioning a draconian response that would unnecessarily infringe on the rights of the non- offending students.

“The question in this case is not whether the defendants did enough to engender a more positive attitude among its students and staff toward homosexuality. Rather, the only issue is whether the manner in which the defendants handled Schroeder’s complaints of harassment denied him equal protection under the law. School administrators disciplined the identified students who misbehaved and degraded him, and made an effort to discover those not identified. There is no evidence that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to his situation, or that they did not make a sincere effort to deal with his complaints. On the contrary, the record shows that the school district was genuinely concerned about the treatment Schroeder experienced, and that it did what reasonably could be expected under the circumstances. The record is replete with memos, correspondence, and testimony indicating that various administrators and staff positively responded to his requests. In the absence of deliberate indifference, federal judges should not use rational basis review as a mechanism to impose their own social values on public school administrators who already have innumerable challenges to face.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Callahan, Mag. J., Manion, J.

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