DUI Newsroom

The U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

The above-referenced complaint against the Rim of the World Unified School District. You (the complainants) alleged that the District discriminated against the Student of the basis of sex. The issue OCR investigated was whether the District failed to respond adequately to reports that Student A and Student B, two male students, verbally and physically sexually harassed the Student. OCR also reviewed whether the District has a procedure that ensures the prompt and equitable resolution of complaints of sex discrimination.

OCR investigated the complaint under the authority of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and its implementing regulation. Title IX prohibits recipients of Federal financial assistance through the Department from discriminating against beneficiaries, employees or applicants for employment on the basis of sex. The District received Federal funds through the Department and is subject to Title IX and its regulation.

OCR gathered evidence through interviews with the complainants, school and community members and District staff. OCR also reviewed documents submitted by the complainants and the District.

OCR concluded that the evidence showed the District in noncompliance with Title IX and the regulation when it failed to respond adequately to a complaint of sexual harassment. OCR has determined that the District will address the compliance issues raised in this case by implementing the resolution agreement reached in another case.

The facts gathered during the investigation that are relevant to our determination, the applicable legal standards, and the reason for our conclusions are summarized below.

Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities operated by schools that receive federal financial assistance. Schools are responsible under Title IX for providing students with a nondiscriminatory educational environment. Sexual harassment of a student can result in the denial or limitation, on the basis of sex, of the student's ability to participate in or receive benefits, services, or opportunities in the school's program, in violation of Title IX and the Department's Title IX regulations. When a school has noticed of sexual harassment of a student by another student, the school must take immediate and appropriate steps to stop the harassment and prevent it from happening again. A recipient may also be obligated to correct the effects of the harassment on the student subjected to the harassment. The judgment and common sense of teachers and administrators are important elements of any response. However, the recipient is responsible for taking all reasonable steps to ensure a safe learning environment.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. It can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature. In determining the existence of hostile environment harassment, OCR examines whether or not the conduct is sufficiently serious to deny or limit a student's ability to participate in or benefit from the school's program.

In addition, the Title IX regulations establish procedural requirements that are important for the prevention or correction of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment. These requirements include issuance of a policy against sex discrimination and adoption and publication of grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of complaints of sex discrimination. The regulations also require that recipients designate at least one employee to coordinate compliance with the regulations, including coordination of investigations of complaint alleging noncompliance.

Our investigation showed the following:

 Board Policy (BP) and Administrative Regulation (AR) 5145.7 are the District's sexual harassment policy and complaint procedure. They contain a definition of sexual harassment and outline administrative and staff responsibilities for responding to complaints and reports of sexual harassment.

 AR 5145.7 (d)(8) requires principals of their designees to write a report of his/her findings, decision, and reasons for the decision and to present this report to the student who complained and the person accused.

 AR 5145.7 (d)(9) requires the principal to give the Superintendent or designee a written report of the complaint investigation.

 At the school where the harassment occurred, the District does not post notice of the name, office address and telephone number of the employee designated to coordinate the District's efforts to comply with and carry out its Title IX responsibilities including sexual harassment complaint investigations.

 During the 2003-2004 school year the Students, Student A and Student B were in fourth grade at an elementary school in the District. The Student and Student A were in teacher 1's fourth grade class during the first semester of the 2003-04 school year.

 According to the complainants, about two weeks into the school year, Student A started to make sexual comments to the Student; the Student told Teacher 1 and yard duty supervisors about the harassment, but they did not attempt to stop Student A from engaging in such behavior. The complainants also alleged that Student A chased the Student and the other female students and touched them inappropriately.

 District Staff deny that the Student complained to them about Student A sexually harassing her or bothering her in any other way.

 The complainants completed a class change request form dated December 19, 2003. As indicated on their request, they felt the Student "could be challenged in a more educational manner" in a different classroom. They told OCR that they felt the Student would get more attention in Teacher 2's classroom. The Student's problems with Student A were not mentioned in the transfer request.

 The Student's attendance records show that she was no longer assigned to Teacher 1's class as of January 16, 2004 and entered Teacher 2's class on January 20, 2004.

 According to the complainants, after the Student transferred to Teacher 2's class, Student B started to sexually harass the Student during recess by chasing her, pushing her to the ground, and getting on top of her. The complainants alleged that Student B also touched the Student's breasts and that the Student reported all of these incidents to Teacher 2 and the yard duty supervisors.

 The Student wrote a letter to the principal dated March 26, 2004 that stated that on March 24, 2004, Student B grabbed her from behind and touched her breasts. The letter also stated that on the afternoon bus, Student B repeatedly asked the Student to marry him. The District also received an undated handwritten note from the Student that complained about Student B verbally harassing her.

 After receiving the March 26th letter, the principal interviewed the Student and Student B. The District provided OCR with it interview notes. The notes are very brief, fragmentary and, in some places, unclear. District staff indicated that additional witnesses were interviewed, but the District did not provide OCR with notes of these interviews. According to District staff, the Student stated that there were no witnesses to the touching incident.

 According to the District, staff informed the complainants over the phone that the District investigated the allegation and disciplined Student B. The complainants deny that they received this information and the District did not provide OCR with documentation to verify that it informed the complainants of its actions by phone. Documentation provided to OCR by the District does not indicate that Student B was disciplined for any incident involving the Student.

 The District did not provide a written response to the March 26th letter to the Student or the complainants. The principal did not write and the superintendent did not request an investigative report as required by District procedures.

 The Student is no longer enrolled in the District.

OCR's review of the District's sexual harassment policy and complaint procedure found them to be consistent with the requirements of Title IX and the regulation. If consistently followed, they would ensure a prompt and equitable response to a complaint or report of sexual harassment.

With respect to harassment of the Student by Student A, because there is no written documentation that the Student and/or the complainants reported Student A's behavior to District staff and the District denies that it received any complaints about Student A, OCR found insufficient evidence to show that the District had notice of the complaints about Student A harassing the Student. Therefore, OCR could not conclude that the District was responsible for responding to the alleged harassment of the Student by Student A.

However, with respect to complaints about Student B, despite taking some action in response to the March 2004 complaint, the District did not adhere to its sexual harassment policy and procedure. Some aspects of the District's response were not in compliance with the District's responsibilities under Title IX and the regulation. Although the District immediately began its investigation upon receiving notice of the complaints, a recipient's response to a sexual harassment complaint must be both prompt and equitable. An equitable response is contingent upon an accurate and reliable investigation because an inaccurate conclusion may lead to inadequate or inappropriate corrective steps. Contrary to the requirements of the District's sexual harassment policies and procedures, no investigative report was written at the site or sought by the District administration. Thus, there is no documentation to show or support what the District concluded in its investigation of the Student's allegations about Student B for the harassment.

The requirements in the District's sexual harassment policy and procedure that a written investigative report be filed with the Superintendent or his designee establishes a mechanism to allow the District to review its handling of sexual harassment complaints to ensure that its response is prompt and equitable and that it is taking appropriate action to eliminate any discriminatory environment at its schools and to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in the future. For the reasons explained above, OCR determined that the District did not enforce its sexual harassment policy and procedure in a manner consistent with Title IX and the regulation. The District agreed to address this compliance issue by developing guidance for and providing training to its staff on responding to reports and complaints of sexual harassment.

A prompt and equitable response also includes the provision of written notice of the findings, decision, and reason for the decision to the individual who complained and the person accused of sexual harassment, all of which are required by the District's sexual harassment procedure at AR 4145.7(d)(8). The District failed to adhere to this provision; it did not provide the Student or the complainants written notice of its findings, decision and reason for its decision. Although the District maintains that it informed the complainants about the results and actions taken over the phone, the complainants deny that the District did so and there is no documentation to support the District's position.

Because the Student is no longer enrolled in the District and the complainants sought only a remedy that would address the District's ability to respond to complaints of sexual harassment, OCR did not seek an individual remedy as part of the resolution of this complaint. The issues related to the District's handling of sexual harassment complaints are addressed in the resolution agreement reached in another case (OCR case no. 09-04-1364). In that case, the District agreed to develop written guidance for its administrators on handling complaints of sexual harassment in accordance with its sexual harassment board policy and administrative regulation. The District also agreed to develop a system for maintaining records on reports and complaints of sexual harassment, post notice of the District's Title IX officer at each school site and provide training to its staff on their responsibilities for responding to sexual harassment complaints.