On Friday, April 19, 2024, the United States Department of Education (USDoEd) released the final version (“final rule”) of its amendments to the regulations implementing Title IX. Title IX has now been significantly amended for the second time in four years, as the 2020 Title IX amendments went into effect on August 16, 2020.
What is Different?
While reviewing and digesting the final rule will take some time, highlights that school administrators and educators should be aware of include:
- Expanded application of a prescriptive grievance procedure to include complaints of sex discrimination as well as sex harassment, though the grievance procedures were also amended and have differing components depending on the allegation.
- Modified definition of “hostile environment” sex harassment from “severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” to “severe or pervasive”
- A directive that any practice or policy that prevents a student from participating in a recipient’s education program or activity consistent with their gender identify is more than de minimis harm to that student on the basis of sex and generally violates Title IX’s non-discrimination mandate
- Established further responsibilities regarding protecting students, employees and applicants from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery
For additional resources, please see the links below:
- U.S. Department of Education website
- Title IX Unofficial Rule 2024 (see p. 1505-1561)
- Title IX Final Rule Fact Sheet
- Title IX Final Rule Overview
What Does it Mean For my School?
The new Title IX updates will impact students, educators, administrators, and others at all levels of educational institutions.
- The regulations will go into effect August 1, 2024.
- Schools should review and revise all policies related to Title IX. Policies and procedures need to be updated and in place by August 1, 2024.
- Differentiated training required for Title IX team, administrators, and educators on the new regulations, as well as the updated school policies, ideally before August 1, 2024.
It will be a busy summer for educators across the country. Starting now will help ensure a smoother transition in time for the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
About Our Author
Elizabeth Maron advises clients in the areas of education law and employment law. Her primary focus is defending companies and public entities in lawsuits filed by current and former employees and sometimes, in the case of education entities, by students and their families. She also has real estate experience handling timber transactions. Elizabeth works with education entities, including school districts, community colleges and universities. She counsels education entities in how to follow state and federal laws. She advises education entities on such matters as student discipline, employee and student First Amendment issues, contracts, Title IX compliance, responding to OCR and EEOC complaints, counseling governing boards, policy development, public bidding issues, and conducting investigations into employee and student complaints of harassment, discrimination, and bullying.