Title IX

Upcoming Trainings

Online training will be completed by all employees at the start of the school year and will be required of all new hires during the school year. Administrators assigned to handle Title IX matters will be trained according to their role in the process (i.e. investigator, decision-maker). Training materials are available upon request

The Title IX Office is currently planning training for high school students that will be conducted early in the school year.

Workshops Attended

Over summer, Title IX staff and selected administrators attended the following workshops:

• "K-12 and Title IX" by Grand River Solutions - June 15, 18, 2020
• "Implementing Restorative Justice for Campus Sexual Harm" by Center for Restorative Justice, University of San Diego - June 29, July 6, 13 and 20, 2020
• "K-12 Certified Title IX Investigator Training" by ICS - July 22-23, 2020
• "Policy Update: Title IX" by California School Boards Association (CSBA) on August 12, 2020

Monthly Meetings

The Title IX staff holds monthly meetings at the District Office with site point persons who handle Title IX and Civil Rights complaints. The first meeting for 2020-21 will be held on September 24.

Here is a list of meetings held at the end of 2019-20:

• June 10, 2020 - Title IX staff did a year-end review with administrators to look at statistics and trends for 2019-20. There was also an overview of the new Title IX regulations that will go into effect on August 14, 2020.
• April 1, 2020 - A Title IX Investigations workshop was conducted by Megan Farrell via Zoom for 10 administrators.

• February 27, 2020 - A meeting was held with elementary principals to review a case study and provide sample emails and outcome letters for school site investigations.
• January 23, 2020 - There was a review of a case study from the 2018-19 school year that included a discussion of lessons learned. There was also a discussion of on-site investigations with sample outcome letters handed out.

Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP)

The Palo Alto Unified School District maintains a uniform complaint procedure for investigating complaints of: (1) discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying on the basis of actual or perceived characteristics of age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnic group identification, race, ancestry, nationality, national origin, religion, color, or mental or physical disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic identified in Education Code 200 or 220, Penal Code 422.55, or Government Code 11135, or based on association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, including retaliation; and (2) complaints of violations of the laws and regulations governing consolidated categorical aid programs, Adult Education, Career/Technical Education, Child Development, Special Education and Nutrition services, or Federal and State Categorical Programs (No Child Left Behind, Title 1, McKinney Vento, English Language Learners, Foster Youth, other programs) and the prohibition against requiring students to pay fees, deposits, or other charges for participating in educational activities. Any individual, public agency or organization may file a written complaint of noncompliance.

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et. seq. (Title IX) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities that receive or benefit from Federal financial assistance. Generally, a provider may not exclude, deny or provide different or lesser services to applicants or beneficiaries on the basis of sex.

• Staff Guidance Memorandum
• OCR Resolution Agreement (approved by the Board 2/28/1)
• BP 1312.3 Uniform Complaint Procedures
• AR 1312.3 Uniform Complaint Procedures
• BP 5145.3 Non-discrimination/Harassment
• AR 5145.3 Non-discrimination/Harassment
• BP 5145.7 Sexual Harassment

Generally, a complaint is an oral or written statement alleging a violation of federal or state laws or regulations, which may include an allegation of unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying.

File a complaint

The District uses an online ticketing system for reports and complaints of discrimination called "Root." When a principal or designee receives a report or complaint of discrimination, including harassment or other misconduct based on race, sex, disability, age or religion, he or she enters information about that matter into Root. The Root system provides immediate visibility to the District’s Compliance Officer (DCO) on all such reports and complaints, allowing the DCO to monitor what is occurring in the schools and to provide guidance as to how incidents are being handled. The Root system also allows us to analyze these incidents at a more aggregate level (e.g., how many reports and complaints are coming in over time or at a particular location).

We generate our log of reports and complaint, commonly known as the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) log, directly out of the Root system. The UCP logs are posted below:

• 2020-21 Discrimination and Complaints Log as of October 5, 2020
• 2019-20 Discrimination and Complaints Log
• 2018-19 Discrimination and Complaints Log
• 2017-18 Discrimination and Complaints Log
• 2016-17 Discrimination and Complaints Log

We welcome your feedback on the UCP log. The Title IX Coordinator and Civil Rights Officer can be reached at complianceofficer@pausd.org.