If your student is experiencing sexual harassment at school, here's what you need to know about Title IX
Title IX is the law commonly associated with giving females the same athletic opportunities as their male counterparts. If there's a boys basketball team, there's also a girls, for example.
But it covers much more than sports. It protects students at federally funded schools from being discriminated against because of their sex.
The law's regulations are complex, confusing — and can change depending on who's in the White House.
Here's a breakdown of your rights under Title IX and how to file a complaint with your school if you or your student are experiencing sex discrimination.
What is Title IX?
Passed in 1972, Title IX is a federal civil rights law preventing federally funded schools from discriminating based on someone's sex. It applies to all public schools and some private schools, if they get money from the federal government. The law applies to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education.
The law applies to all aspects of a school's educational services and opportunities including academics, extracurricular activities, athletics and other programs offered by the school. Its protections also extend to all of a school's operations even off premises, like on school buses or fieldtrips.
Title IX also applies when the school has "substantial control" over the person or the context in which the discrimination occurred. The U.S. Department of education uses this example: A school may have substantial control over an incident if a teacher visits a student’s home to give the student a book but really went to instigate sexual activity.
The law protects parents and guardians, students, employees and anyone else who interacts with a school and its services, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But the student must be trying to participate, or be actively participating, in the school's educational services.
What qualifies as sex discrimination?
Sex discrimination encompasses many types of discrimination, including sexual harassment, gender identity discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination.
Under Title IX, "sexual harassment" is broken down into three categories:
"Quid pro quo harassment" is when an employee at the school offers a student something in exchange for unwelcome sexual conduct.
Unwelcome conduct is conduct that a "reasonable person would find to be so severe, pervasive and objectively offense that it effectively denies a person equal access" to their education, according to the U.S Department of Education.
Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking.
Sexual harassment can fall into one or more of those categories and include "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature," according to the U.S. Department of Education.
School policies, employees or other students can be responsible for discrimination that falls under Title IX. But the way the law is written, only education institutions and schools can be considered in violation of the law, and they're the only ones responsible for ending the discriminatory behavior.
My student is experiencing sex discrimination. What can I do?
Student experiencing sex discrimination at school have rights and protections under federal law.
You can file a "formal Title IX complaint" with the school by contacting the school's Title IX coordinator. Every public and federally funded private school is required to have a Title IX coordinator who ensures the school follows the law.
Schools are required to publish the coordinator’s contact information in its handbooks and catalogs. The coordinator’s contact information must also be "prominently displayed" on the school’s website as well, as required by federal regulations.
Once the Title IX coordinator is aware of sexual harassment, they are required to tell you how to make a formal complaint and the availability of supportive measures. Regardless of whether a formal complaint is filed, the student experiencing discrimination is entitled receive supportive measures.
Examples from the U.S Department of Education include counseling, extensions of deadlines or other course-related adjustments, modifications of work or class schedules and mutual restrictions on contact between the parties.
To file a formal Title IX complaint:
Gather as much information and documentation about the alleged incident as you can.
Look on your school district's website to see if they have a Title IX complaint form you could use to make your complaint.
Include enough information for the school to know what the allegation is, who it's against and when it happened.
If there is no form, make the complaint in writing and sign it.
Then, share it with the Title IX coordinator. You can do this in person, through the mail or via email.
Paul Kinne, a Title IX attorney in Wisconsin, recommends filing the complaint sooner rather than later to prevent people from forgetting what happened.
"The longer you wait to report it, the harder it will be to remedy the overall (harm) that was done," he said.
What happens after I file a Title IX complaint?
Once a formal complaint is filed, and if the allegation meets the definition of discrimination under Title IX, the school can initiate a Title IX investigation. Schools are required to publicly post their procedures for investigating complaints and to share them once a complaint is made.
There are certain federal requirements:
You are entitled to the same opportunities as the person you're complaining against to present evidence and witnesses.
You can have someone outside the investigation, such as an attorney, present during the process.
You are allowed to discuss the allegation and collect evidence.
The school must provide written notice of the date, time, location, participants and purpose of all investigative interviews or other meetings.
The school must allow both parties to inspect and review the evidence so each can respond before the investigation is concluded.
Complainants are protected from retaliation for filing a complaint or participating in any Title IX investigation.
Before the investigation is over, the school must share an investigative report with the relevant evidence.
Some schools also offer what is called an "informal resolution" that is different than a formal Title IX investigation. Schools determine what those procedures are, but you are not required to do an informal process.
Both the person making the complaint and the person being accused must agree to any informal resolution process.
Federal regulations do not allow schools to do an informal resolution process when an employee is accused of sexually harassing a student.
Do I need a lawyer?
You don't have to have a lawyer to file a Title IX complaint and go through an investigation, but Kinne recommends it.
"The process can be confusing and intimidating," he said. "It really does make sense ... to at least reach out to lawyers to see if someone would be able to help them through the process, even if it's nothing more than essentially just kind of being by their side."
Is a Title IX investigation confidential?
Title IX, along with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, prohibits schools from releasing anything but the most innocuous information about students, Kinne said.
When making a formal Title IX complaint, the person being accused will be notified of the complaint and what's being alleged. They will also be informed of who is making the complaint, if the school knows.
Kinne recommends that people making a complaint prepare for other people knowing about it, especially if the complaint is against another student.
What can I expect at the end of a Title IX investigation?
The school will decided which of the allegations, if any, are true. It must provide both parties a written statement with its rationale.
This will also include any disciplinary actions against the person responsible for the discrimination and any remedies the school will offer the victim. The written statement must also include any pathways to appeal the decision.
What can I do if the school is not following Title IX or messes up the investigation?
If your school violates Title IX, messes up the investigation or retaliates, you can make a complaint to the federal Office for Civil Rights. It's under the U.S. Department of Education and is tasked with enforcing civil rights laws like Title IX.
You can file a complaint with the OCR immediately or you can do it after going through a school's investigatory procedures.
An OCR complaint is separate from a Title IX complaint made to a school district. Complaints can be filed online, by mail, by email or you can directly contact your regional OCR office.
The office for Wisconsin is in Chicago and can be reached at 312-730-1560 or by email at OCR.Chicago@ed.gov.
When making an OCR complaint, the agency recommends including:
Your name, address and phone number;
Information about the person injured by the alleged discrimination, though the name of the injured person is not required;
The name and location of the institution that committed the alleged discrimination;
A description of the alleged discrimination in sufficient detail so the agency can understand what happened, when it happened and the basis for the alleged discrimination.
A complaint must be filed within 180 days of the last discriminatory act, but you can request a waiver from the OCR if it happened outside of that window. If you went through your school's investigation process first, you have 60 days from the conclusion of the investigation to file an OCR complaint.
Can I also call police? Child protection services?
Title IX complaints and investigations are separate from police or child protection services investigations.
Nothing prevents someone from also filing a police or child protection services report, Kinne said.
What if I don't want to file a formal Title IX complaint?
You are not required to file a formal complaint.
If the Title IX coordinator or someone at the school with the power to take action knows of sexual harassment, the school is required to respond — regardless of whether a complaint is filed. However, that may limit what actions the school can take.
Regardless, the student is entitled to supportive measures.
Do Title IX rules change?
Title IX is implemented through regulations set by the U.S. Department of Education. Presidential administrations have the power to change those regulations and rescind previous policies.
In 2020, the Trump administration overhauled Title IX regulations, narrowing what's considered sexual harassment and making a more formal complaint process. In October, the Biden administration is poised to release new regulations that are expected to backtrack a lot of the Trump changes.
It's unclear when the Biden regulations would go into effect or what the final regulations would look like.
Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Guide to exercising your Title IX rights
