The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it had reached an agreement
with the San Diego Unified School District to revamp its response to harassment claims after a lack of results.
Education officials examined 253 reports and complaints made by students over a three-year span and found “that the district more often than not, did not fulfill its Title IX regulatory requirement to equitably respond to allegations of sexual harassment of its students.”
The complaints included reports filed by students and district employees between the school years from 2017-18, through 2019-20, when U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten served as the SDUSD superintendent.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights determined that the school district fell short when it came to providing an equitable response to allegations of sex discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault. And failed to coordinate its response through its designated Title IX coordinator, and follow the proper procedures for complaints.
Through an agreement with the Department of Education, SDUSD has agreed to a number of steps aimed at improving its response to sexual harassment complaints. These steps include reviewing prior complaints to see if further action is needed, providing annual age-appropriate training to students in grades 3-12 about how to recognize and report sexual harassment, and training district employees on their obligations to respond to such reports.
““”Through today’s resolution, San Diego Unified commits to overhaul its response to allegations of sexual harassment to ensure all its students learn safely and without sex or disability discrimination,” said Catherine E. Lhamon, the Department of Education’s assistant secretary for civil rights.
-City News Service
