Members of the Laboratory Schools community will soon have a new online form to report instances of bias. 

A new reporting system will allow people to report acts of harassment, discrimination, prejudice or other antagonistic behaviors to the administration. Betsy Noel, Title IX coordinator, and Priyanka Rupani, director of diversity, equity and inclusion will oversee the system.

The reporting individual will fill out a Google form that will go to only Ms. Noel and Ms. Rupani. 

“We will then determine who gets to see the information based on who’s reporting and the details of the report,” Ms. Rupani said.

Dean of Students Ana Campos encourages anyone who feels uncomfortable or mistreated within the Lab community to utilize this form. She expressed her hopes that by providing this system, students will be guided toward the support systems the school already offers.

Ms. Noel explained that while Lab has made efforts before to support students, these support systems can be difficult to find and utilize, leaving students on their own.

“We don’t want the burden of sharing experiences to be on students,” Ms. Rupani said. “We want the school to be a safe place for people to report things so that we are able to do what we need to do on our end to learn about particular situations and respond.”

While the reporting system is, in part, one of several continuing efforts to support students, Ms. Rupani explained that the new system is also a response to the demands from the Black Students’ Association in January, the recent spotlight on the struggles of marginalized groups in America, and several discriminatory actions within the Lab community that were publicized last school year and over the summer. 

“This year, we want to focus on revising and refining Lab’s policies and practices to be more equitable and transparent,” Ms. Rupani said. “We also want to be responsive to what we’ve been seeing around the country and specifically at Lab.” 

One advantage of the program is the relative confidentiality. The form does provide the option to be entirely anonymous. However, Ms. Noel emphasized that anonymous submissions are difficult to address considering there is no way to ask for more information.

“If we know who has reported something, we can work to support the student and reach out for more information if necessary,” Ms. Noel said. 

However, Ms. Noel also noted that attaching a name to a submission would not necessarily involve the reporter in any further action taken, or disclose the reporter’s identity to anyone but Ms. Rupani and Ms. Noel. The system is meant to provide as much confidentiality as deemed possible for the individual situation.

“Part of the reason [submissions are] being received by Ms. Rupani and me only is so that we can keep reports as confidential as possible while still taking steps to address the report.” Ms. Noel said. 

The administration is hopeful that this reporting system will enable students to show the  administration the problems that they experience, giving all members of the Lab community the power to enact change based on 

“If you have something to report, tell us about it,” Ms. Campos said. “We want to support students and work with them to improve our community.”