What's 'prominent' enough? Many Florida school districts make sex abuse help hard to find
On Brevard Public Schools' website, the information can be easy to miss at first. Parents and students who are particularly tenacious – or eagle-eyed – can find it in 7.5-point font at the bottom of the home page, but more are likely to find it listed as the 51st of 53 links on a page titled "Departments and Programs."
In DeSoto, the words are partially blocked by a floating button that links to another site.
In Taylor and Hendry, it’s listed under Human Resources – a place a child or parent would be unlikely to look.
And Gadsden and Gulf public school districts don’t even publish it online –– at least, not that reporters from The News-Press and Naples Daily News could find.
What were reporters searching for? Information on how a parent or child can report that a student has been sexually harassed, assaulted or discriminated against. Information that these school districts are required by federal law – Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 – to publish prominently on their websites.
At just 14 of the 67 Florida public school districts and two independent schools examined did reporters find the information readily available and easily understandable.
Instead, The News-Press/Naples Daily News encountered what one expert termed a “lackluster” response to the law.
“The recipient (of federal funds) must prominently display the name or title, office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number of the Title IX Coordinator on its website,” a U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights representative confirmed in an email to The News-Press/Naples Daily News.
If they don't, they can be considered out of compliance with the federal law, gender justice nonprofit Equal Rights Advocates Title IX lawyer Maha Ibrahim said.
Reporters found six districts had not published the required Title IX coordinator information on their website. After a reporter contacted them, four districts took action to add the information to their website.
But many of the state's districts did not publish information on Title IX prominently. In some cases, districts don't explain what Title IX covers; others don't give out contact information or mention Title IX by name. Sometimes the information was included in tiny font at the bottom of the homepage. At times, reporters had to hunt for the phrase "Title IX," often spending up to 30 minutes on a district website trying to find where the information was buried.
Dozens don't explain what Title IX is, let alone in language a child can understand. While that is not required by law, experts argue it should be common sense.
“Why is it easier for an 11-year-old to find out the date of the next football game than it is for them to report that they’ve been seriously sexually violated?” asked Ibrahim.
“I hope they can sleep at night,” she said. “They chose a career in education and their efforts are going into figuring out the most minimal, flaccid way to comply with the barest of civil rights laws.”
Brevard school district's Chief Strategic Communications Officer Russell Bruhn told The News-Press / Naples Daily News "This has been a non-issue for us," when it came to the district's display of Title IX information.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said she was “shocked and disappointed” by how many districts handled the publication of this information.
“Students (need to) know who to contact when faced with a potential Title IX violation,” Eskamani said. “We should not be doing the bare minimum. ... It should be common sense to ensure this information is accessible."
And yet, in Florida, it rarely is.
How we reported this
This is not the only way Florida is potentially failing its students when it comes to the federal law. Earlier this year, an investigation by The News-Press/Naples Daily News found that hundreds of Title IX-worthy instances of sex abuse or harassment that took place on school grounds went unreported.
Title IX attempts to address a problem that is both widespread and persistent.
A 2023 study published in the journal Educational Policy showed that 94% of students were unable to identify their Title IX compliance officer and 70% did not know how to file complaints. Fifty percent of those same respondents said they knew someone who experienced harassment at school or had experienced it themselves. More than 15% said they had personally experienced staff-on-student sexual harassment.
The News-Press/Naples Daily News examined all 67 of Florida’s public school district websites, as well as the sites for Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and Florida Virtual School. Reporters looked for three things: Title IX coordinator name or title, contact information, and whether it was “prominently displayed.”
While the U.S. Department of Education declined to define “prominent," a reporter reviewing the sites tried to find the information in less than 30 seconds.
According to the Nielsen Norman Group, viewers often leave a website in 10-20 seconds, making 30 seconds a fairly generous estimate of how long it should take to find something that is ostensibly prominently featured.
One reporter examined each Florida district or independent school site three times, looking for the Title IX coordinator name and contact information. If she couldn’t find it, she searched the phrase “[district] + title ix” and "[district] + title ix coordinator" on various search engines. Afterwards, another reporter reviewed the district sites on which she had been unsuccessful.
She contacted the dozen districts she could not verify that they had a Title IX coordinator, asking them to point her to the place on their site where the information was published. Some districts responded with the information, but others did not have it published online. Among them were Gadsden, Gulf, Walton, Jefferson, Franklin and Glades public school districts.
Four districts – Walton, Jefferson, Franklin and Glades – added the information after The News-Press / Naples Daily News contacted them.
Walton, Franklin and Glades wrote back to say they had added the information, and a reporter was able to verify they had.
Jefferson did not acknowledge reporter emails asking for the information and comment. However, a view of the website through the Internet Archive, a nonprofit dedicated to creating and preserving an interactive digital library of websites, shows that they added this information after multiple emails from The News-Press / Naples Daily News.
But reporters could find nothing on Gadsden and Gulf’s sites regarding Title IX or their coordinators. Emails asking for comment and messages left with Gadsden and Gulf went unreturned.
The U.S. Department of Education's representative said not complying with the federal law could open up these districts to litigation by students or parents, or could force the office to investigate the district.
Ultimately, a district could lose federal funding if it refuses to comply with federal law.
Yet, the Office of Civil Rights does not monitor schools for compliance with the law unless it has entered into a resolution agreement to do so following an investigation.
More: Over 250 cases of sex abuse reported in Florida schools; under 60 Title IX complaints filed
More: After Hector Manley: Here's the federal policy that could help keep Florida schoolchildren safe
'Prominently' displayed and plain language
Just fourteen districts made it easy to find and understand the role of Title IX and the coordinator in under 30 seconds. Standouts among them were Alachua, Holmes, Indian River and Marion.
In Alachua, a nondiscrimination notice and the names and contact information of compliance officers are written in large print at the bottom of the home page within a box, which research shows helps struggling readers focus. It reads similarly in Holmes, where, after a short scroll, a nondiscrimination notice and the Title IX coordinators are all identified and easily found.
In Indian River, while the link for Title IX is at the bottom-right of the district's home page, it leads to a page dedicated to explaining Title IX. The page includes a reader-friendly definition, prominent links to trainings and complaint forms – all within their own boxes – and links to the 37 school-based Title IX coordinators as well as all three district coordinators.
And Marion's public schools list "Title IX contact info and sexual harassment complaint" in the list of quick links on the home page, which leads to a series of pages dedicated to explaining Title IX, a PDF of the current Title IX federal rules and regulations, definitions of sexual harassment, trainings, complaint forms, contact information, and more.
While 14 districts were standouts among the rest of Florida's public schools, that doesn't necessarily mean the rest are out of compliance, as the Department of Education has so far declined to define what is considered "prominently" displaying such information. If the department charged with enforcing the law won't define it, how are districts supposed to know what qualifies?
Elizabeth Tang is the senior counsel for education and workplace justice with the National Women's Law Center, and has regularly worked on Title IX cases.
Generally, said Tang, she would advise a school or district to place the information in a readable font on the home page, or clearly labeled with something like "equity," "harassment" or "bullying" –– keywords a parent or child can quickly recognize in under 30 seconds.
"If something takes 30 minutes to find, if it's in a size seven font ... that fails the test," said Tang.
But, Tang cautioned, her 'test' is not a legal standard districts can currently be held to –– simply a best practice.
Districts are also juggling a lot of information they're required to publish digitally said state teacher's union Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar, referencing curriculum, books choices and even Title IX information.
"How do you how do you do it all in such a way that anyone who's coming to a website can find what they're looking for?"
Spar said in his experience, district websites were all over the place in terms of where information was kept and how easily it was found.
He added that LGBTQ students, whose protections are expected to expand under the Biden Administration's update to the rules, might be among those who have a difficult time finding information on Title IX that would protect them. If the information isn't easily found, he asked, what happens to those children?
Furthermore, there is no part of the federal law that says a school's publication of Title IX must be easily understood ‒ no requirement that equity information on a district or school site can be read and comprehended by an adult without a legal background, or a child attending the school.
"Knowing what Title IX is, knowing what your resources are, knowing what a processes should be something that is easily explained and understood," Spar said. "And I believe in today's world, especially here in Florida, we should have it at a minimum, at least in English and in Spanish and probably in Creole, too.
"We want to have a process to protect students and to protect individuals. Why wouldn't you put it in as plain terms as possible?"
Tang said a person or organization interested in seeing Title IX amended to require districts or schools explain Title IX in language appropriate for the age of their students would have to work with a federal lawmakers to introduce a bill.
Tang added that the Department of Education could also change this by issuing new regulations, or new subregulatory guidance — essentially, explaining how schools should interpret the law.
In Lee County, while the information on Title IX is thorough and complete, the link is not exactly prominent. It can be found on the parent portal, under "T," or at the bottom of the homepage on a “popular links” list, which sends browsers to student records, facility rentals, “doing business with the district” and the website’s terms of use.
And while in Collier County the link to its Title IX policies and procedures is prominent on its district page, the Title IX policy page could be confusing to readers searching for information. Much of the page is dedicated to links to Title IX training videos created and hosted by a third-party site.
In order to access the site, you have to acknowledge a statement that reads: “The School District of Collier County is not responsible for the accuracy or content of information contained in these sites.”
Other barriers can keep students from reporting under Title IX
Title IX expert and Virginia Commonwealth University professor Charol Shakeshaft noted, there are other barriers that can keep students or parents from reporting under Title IX. In many cases, she said, smaller or mid-size schools tended to lump the Title IX coordinator role in with another ‒ sometimes folding it into human resources, administration, or even a teacher's duties.
"Doing this dilutes the power and the effectiveness of the person who's in that position," Shakeshaft said. This can happen because a district is short on funds, or perhaps doesn't understand the scope of what a Title IX officer needs to do to be effective, she said.
A Title IX coordinator is charged with ensuring a school or district complies with Title IX; they are required to undergo training in order to be an expert in the law and how to uphold it within their district. Many also conduct investigations themselves.
Oftentimes, Shakeshaft added, Title IX coordinators aren't appropriately trained, which would also violate the law.
"I think a lot of people just don't really understand the extensive coverage of Title IX," Shakeshaft said. "And then they don't budget for it."
The News-Press / Naples Daily News found that most listed Title IX coordinators held other jobs; at 49 of the 67 districts and two independent schools, they either folded the Title IX coordinator role into another, or reporters could not verify who held the role. Districts with fewer than 40,000 students routinely combined the Title IX coordinator position with another.
Among others, the positions held by Title IX coordinators ranged from assistant superintendents to heads of guidance, heads of human resources, and thesis supervisors. Experts note that this is a problem nationally, not just in Florida.
Recent data on Title IX coordinators is scarce. However, a 2012 survey of Title IX coordinator contact information and investigation procedures conducted by Equal Rights Advocates of 116 Bay-area California schools found that only 4% of Title IX coordinators surveyed worked full-time resolving Title IX investigations and complaints.
“In other words, most designated Title IX coordinators wear other hats … which could make it difficult or impossible for them to spend time carrying out … Title IX and implementing school policies against sexual harassment,” the study concluded.
Cops and Crime Investigative Reporter Dan Glaun contributed reporting to this article.
Kate Cimini is the Florida Investigative Reporter for the USA TODAY Network-Florida. She writes primarily for The News-Press and Naples Daily News.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Many Florida school districts make sex abuse help hard to find
