Citing the troubling statistic that, “The number of K-12 sexual harassment complaints filed with OCR [Office for Civil Rights] is nearly fifteen times greater than it was a decade ago,” U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, announced on February 26, 2020 a new Title IX enforcement initiative to combat a concerning rise of sexual assaults in K-12 public schools.

According to data for the 2015-2016 school year, there were approximately 9,700 incidents of sexual assault, rape or attempted rape reported in public elementary and secondary schools.  This new initiative is an indication that OCR is not backing off of its enforcement priorities but rather may step them up, at least as to K-12 public schools.

According to OCR, its initiative will include:

• Compliance Reviews in school districts examining how sexual assault cases are handled under Title IX.
• Public Awareness and Support to raise awareness of sexual assault in K-12 schools.
• Data Quality Reviews of sexual assault/offenses data submitted by districts through federal data collection.
• Proposed Civil Rights Data Collection to gather more data on sexual assault.

The initiative appears to focus on incidents of sexual assault on students by school staff.  To that end, it builds on the Department’s work to implement “Pass the Trash” provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  Those provisions prohibit schools from assisting personnel in obtaining new employment if the individual has engaged in sexual misconduct with a student or minor.  This is similar to legislation that has been proposed in Massachusetts.

Finally, it is unclear how this OCR initiative relates to the much-anticipated, revised Title IX regulations, which are expected to be published sometime between April and August 2020. The revised regulations apply to both K-12 schools and higher education.

In any event, K-12 public schools should be aware of the latest guidance from OCR and plan accordingly, to the extent practicable given the demands of the current pandemic.  Summer and fall professional development and training activities should include these topics. Additionally, schools would be well-advised to conduct an internal audit of their Title IX policies, procedures and practices and update them as necessary.

I will notify you about future developments in this area, including publication, if any, of revised Title IX regulations. Please send your email address to Judy@judylevensonlaw.com if you would like to receive updates. I am available to assist with any questions, trainings, policy updates or other activities.