Title IX Training

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As we noted in our last blog post, the Biden administration recently announced plans to propose amendments to the Title IX regulations by April 2022. While this deadline is fast approaching, before you start thinking about changing your policies and procedures, remember that the Trump administration’s 2020 regulations are still in full effect and will continue to be for the time being. 

With that in mind, we are launching a multi-part series where we’ll be providing a refresher on the key players on your Title IX team under the current 2020 regulations. Over the next several posts, we’ll highlight the roles and responsibilities of Title IX Coordinators, Investigators, Decision-Makers (Complaint and Appeal), Informal Resolution Facilitators, and Advisors, reviewing legal requirements and sharing practical tips and lessons that we’ve learned in the field. Continue Reading New Title IX Series: Refresher on the Roles and Responsibilities of Your Title IX Team

It has been over two months since the 2020 Title IX regulations setting forth a new procedure for addressing school-based Title IX sexual harassment complaints went into effect. The new rules require, among many other things, that all members of what we here at Franczek P.C. call the “Title IX Team” receive training. Our attorneys are leaders in helping schools and their attorneys learn the new law, both through free resources and a comprehensive training package that allows training of the entire Title IX Team–a feat that cannot be achieved through free resources alone. This blog includes a refresher on what training is required, who needs Title IX training, what to look for in a training provider, and a comprehensive list of the free resources your school, college, or university can use to help meet the compliance requirements of the new Title IX.
Continue Reading The Best Things in Life: Free Title IX Training Resources for Rules Compliance

Today is the day. After almost two years of thinking about whether the proposed Title IX regulations would go into effect at all, starting today we are operating under the new rules at schools, colleges, and universities across the country. In addition to preparing for an unprecedented school year opening, we know you’re also on top of all the training and policy revisions needed for compliance. (You are, right? If not, find more information here.) But don’t forget the requirement to update your website with certain information, including your nondiscrimination statement, Title IX Coordinator information, training materials used to train your Title IX Team, and a provisional grievance procedure if your policies are not yet finalized, by today. In our experience, most higher education institutions already have extensive Title IX presences on their websites, so you may just need to make a few adjustments. But this requirement is just the kind that might slip under the radar for many K-12 schools. Our team at Franczek P.C. has put together website and procedural language to help schools easily comply. Reach out to us at titleIX@franczek.com for more information. The following are the requirements from the regulations as to what an institution must post on its websites by tomorrow to be in compliance.
Continue Reading We’ve Got You Covered: Website and Grievance Procedure Updates Required Today for Title IX Compliance

Almost one-and-a-half years after releasing its proposed rule, the U.S. Department of Education issued new Title IX regulations on May 6, 2020. Because the 2020 Title IX regulations become effective on August 14, 2020, educational institutions must move quickly to come into compliance during what are already particularly trying times. To assist your institution with…

When I was studying for the bar many, many years ago, I remember waking up about six weeks before the exam with a sinking feeling in my stomach, wondering “How am I ever going get this all finished in time?!” I can imagine many educational leaders are feeling the same dread looking at the calendar this week, wondering how in the world their institution is going to come into compliance with the new Title IX regulations by the August 14, 2020 implementation date. It’s not a matter of lack of effort–just like I did that summer before the bar, I know that you all have been working diligently to get everything done. But the sheer amount of work there is to do can be overwhelming. That morning, during my bar summer, after I woke up I sat down and came up with a plan for how to get everything done by the date of the exam, and began checking things off the list one by one. That, too, is the approach I recommend you take right now to help your educational institution down the path to compliance by August 14.  Here’s how to do it.
Continue Reading Six Weeks to the New Title IX: Here’s How Your Institution Can Meet the Deadline

One of the biggest changes from the new Title IX regulations issued by the Department of Education last week is that, beginning in August 2020, OCR’s complaint findings will be based on standards very similar to those used by federal courts for decades in lawsuits for money damages under Title IX. The U.S. Supreme Court set forth the standards in Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998), and Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education, 526 U.S. 629 (1999). Those cases included the fundamental ideas that have now been codified—in modified form—in the Department’s final rule, such as the ideas that a school can only be responsible for sexual harassment that is “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim’s access to an educational opportunity or benefit”; when it exercises “substantial control” over the harasser and the “context” of harassment; and when it has “actual knowledge” of the sexual harassment. These cases also are the root of the “deliberately indifferent” standard that OCR will now use to decide if a school has violated Title IX. What do these standards mean, and what lessons can your institution learn from the court cases in which they were created and fleshed out over the past two decades?
Continue Reading Why Your Next OCR Title IX Complaint May Feel Like A Lawsuit

After almost one-and-a-half years since issuing its original proposed rule, the U.S. Department of Education has issued final Title IX regulations effective August 14, 2020. Although analyzing the changes will take some time, what follows is a brief initial summary of some of the main changes in the final rule. Please join us for a complimentary webinar breaking down the new rule on Monday, May 11, 2020, at 11:30 a.m. We will be working on providing you more insights, as well, in the coming days.
Continue Reading They’re Finally Here: U.S. Department of Education Issues Title IX Regulations

Despite efforts by schools and advocacy organizations, state attorneys general, and members of Congress and the Senate, the Department of Education’s proposed Title IX rules reportedly have cleared Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review and sources say that the final rules are coming—soon. Although the timing of the release during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis is far from ideal, employees with Title IX responsibilities may be able to use some of the well-documented time lost in productivity on normal day-to-day tasks during this crisis to prepare for the coming changes. In addition to signing up for our Franczek blogs and alerts so that you can receive our insights on the rules if and when they are released, we recommend that schools, colleges, and universities do the following four tasks now to prepare for the impending regulatory changes.
Continue Reading Lemons into Lemonade: 4 Coronavirus Shutdown Tasks to Prepare for Title IX Rules