If you still get the runaround, contact your district's elected school board. It might be a good idea to go before the Board with other members of the PTA, to make it clear that you are concerned with the general safety of all children at the school. But as you escalate your complaints, be sensitive to the inflammatory nature of any sexual harassment charge against a minor by not mentioning the name of the claimed offender in public. It's enough to outline and detail the serious nature of the problem and the lack of an appropriate response, naming names only in private.

You might also consider:

• informing the state board of education, and
• contacting your local representative, and
• contacting the local paper -- often a very powerful last resort.

Steps Schools Should Take

Every school should have a clear sexual harassment policy so that everyone knows what's off limits. To be effective, this policy obviously must be appropriately communicated to teachers and students. And, of course, the policy should set forth remedies as well as rules, so that when a complaint is made, teachers, administrators and parents understand how it will be handled.

If your school doesn't already have a sexual harassment policy, make it clear to the principal that it should promptly be written. Since school administrators are chronically overworked, you might consider offering to get together a group of parents, teachers, students and school board members to draft the policy for your school.

At the very least, a policy should include the following things:

• a clear statement that sexual harassment by students is illegal,
  
  
• a discussion of what kinds of behaviors constitute sexual harassment, and
  
  
• a statement that will help kids understand what to do if they feel that they're being harassed: contact their teachers, visit the principal in confidence, or let their parents know about it.

Once the policy is drafted, your school should also be willing to make a commitment to some kind of ongoing education program to enforce it, preferably with role-playing and discussion, to help students understand what sexual harassment is, and isn't.