Lesson 7

Title IX and Title IX Coordinator

• Prohibits discrimination in all aspects of a recipient’s education programs and activities
• All students, employees, and school communities must be notified of the name or title, office address, telephone number, and email address of the title IX coordinator, including in its notice of nondiscrimination.

Title IX Regulations

• Title IX regulations require a recipient to adopt and publish grievance procedures providing for the prompt and equitable resolution of student and employee complaints under Title IX.
• These procedures provide an institution with a mechanism for discovering incidents of discrimination or harassment as early as possible and for effectively correcting individual and systemic problems.
• The procedures that each school uses to resolve Title IX complaints may vary depending on the nature of the allegation, the age of the student or students involved, the size and administrative structure of the school, state or local legal requirements, and what it has learned from past experiences.

• First, the Title IX Coordinator should work with the recipient to help make sure that the grievance procedures are written in language appropriate for the age of the audience (such as elementary, middle school, high school, or postsecondary students), and that they are easily understood and widely disseminated.
• Second, the Title IX Coordinator should review the grievance procedures to help determine whether they incorporate all of the elements required for the prompt and equitable resolution of student and employee complaints under Title IX, consistent with the Title IX regulatory requirement and Office of Civil Rights (OCR) guidance.
• Third, the Title IX Coordinator should communicate with students, parents or guardians, and school employees to help them understand the recipient’s grievance procedures; train employees and students about how Title IX protects against discrimination; and provide consultation and information regarding Title IX requirements to potential complainants.
• Fourth, the Title IX Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the grievance process and making certain that individual complaints are handled properly. This coordination responsibility may include informing all parties regarding the process, notifying all parties regarding grievance decisions and of the right to and procedures for appeal, if any; monitoring compliance with all of the requirements and timelines specified in the grievance procedures; and maintaining grievance and compliance records and files.
• Finally, the Title IX Coordinator ensure that its grievance procedures are accessible to English language learners and students with disabilities.

Training

• The Superintendent and the District Professional Development Team MUST incorporate training
• To support this program in the annual professional development plan, and provide additional training as needed. Training opportunities shall be provided to all employees, including, but not limited to teachers, administrators, monitors, aides, bus drivers, coaches, custodians, cafeteria staff, and hall monitors. Such training shall:
  1. Raise awareness and sensitivity to potential acts of harassment, bullying and discrimination directed at students.
  2. Address the social patterns of harassment, bullying and discrimination, the identification and mitigation of such acts, and strategies for effectively addressing problems of exclusion, bias and aggression in educational settings.
  3. Enable employees to prevent and respond to incidents of harassment, bullying and/or discrimination.
  4. Make school employees aware of the effects of harassment, bullying, cyberbullying, and/or discrimination of students.
  5. Ensure the effective implementation of school policy on school conduct and discipline
     include safe and supportive school climate concepts in curriculum and classroom management.