Yesterday, the White House released a Fact Sheet: Ensuring Safe and Supportive Schools for All Students. The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced additional materials to help school districts address sexual assault misconduct in elementary and secondary schools. These resources demonstrate the continued commitment of the Department and White House to addressing the issue of sexual assault on campus. It also underscores that the Title IX requirements to prevent and address sexual misconduct are not just an issue for colleges and universities, but also for public school districts as well.
These new resources include an online toolkit, Safe Place to Learn, which provides resources, such as training, implementation guidance, as well as student focused materials to implement in the classroom. The Department intends for these materials to aim at assisting three primary staff groups: administrative leadership; all building staff; and staff responsible for interceding and responding to students.
In addition, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault released a guidance document addressing the main issues K-12 districts should consider when developing sexual misconduct policies and procedures.
What this Means to You
- School districts should have in place and up-to date sexual misconduct policy, including an easily accessible and user-friendly procedures for people to report alleged sexual misconduct;
- Clearly identify their Title IX coordinator;
- Train district employees on the district’s sexual misconduct policy and grievance procedures; and
- Establish procedures for regularly assessing and updating the policy and associated procedures.