The U.S. Department of Education (the “DOE”) recently concluded that the Newark, New Jersey public school district violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) by failing to implement proper policies and respond to reports of student-to-student and employee-to-student sexual harassment.
On August 28, 2023, the DOE and the school district entered into a Resolution Agreement in which the district committed to take certain steps to resolve the compliance issues identified by the DOE. In a Letter accompanying the Resolution, the DOE described nine violations of Title IX and its implementing regulations. While the Letter is not a formal statement of DOE policy, it provides some insights into the DOE’s analysis and review methodology that may help schools and other entities subject to Title IX better comply with the law and prepare for a potential DOE investigation.
