Taking a School District in WA to Court to Protect Students’ Title IX Rights

The LLF National Law Firm’s Education Law Team will be suing a school district in Washington state for its failure to meet its Title IX reporting obligations in the case of an elementary school student who claims they were bullied and sexually assaulted. The student, a third grader, now suffers from PTSD.

Under Title IX, as soon as any school employee learns of a violation, the school as a whole is understood to have knowledge of the incident. In turn, the school is required to notify its Title IX coordinator. The LLF National Law Firm had earlier:

• Requested a Title IX investigation into the matter, and
• Filed a complaint with the Title IX coordinator

When the district still failed to comply, we started work on a lawsuit.

Our Education Law Team doesn’t give up. If you or your child experiences any kind of sex or gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination, the school, if it receives any federal funding at all, is legally required to report it. Contact the LLF National Law Firm and we’ll make sure they do — even if it means we have to take them to court. Call our offices at 888-535-3686 or send us a message online.

What Are the Title IX Coordinator’s First Steps Supposed to Be?

The intent behind Title IX is to ensure that every student, regardless of their sex, gender, or marital or reproductive status has full access to the entire range of educational opportunities available at their school. Sexual assault and harassment violate this intent because they create barriers to access.

Once a school learns of a sexual assault or discriminatory, threatening, or intimidating conduct, Title IX compels it to promptly notify its Title IX coordinator. In smaller school districts like the one in Longview, WA, the superintendent of schools usually holds this position.

According to Title IX’s current rules, after the coordinator learns of an incident they have to take the following steps:

• Contact the student’s parents or guardians
• Discuss options for protecting the student’s safety, such as moving them to different classroom, shifting their lunch period, or establishing no-contact rules between the student and their assailant
• Determine next steps

These measures can be implemented even before any investigation or disciplinary action.

What About a Title IX Investigation?

Once the Title IX coordinator makes sure the student is safe and supported, the next step is to determine whether the allegations are true. In many school districts, the coordinator assigns the role of investigator to another school officer, such as the assistant superintendent or the compliance director, or someone in a similar position.

The coordinator will oversee the investigation by:

• Keeping the investigation on schedule
• Ensuring the investigator follows established procedures
• Reviewing the investigator’s methods and the adequacy of the investigation

What Happens When the Coordinator Fails to Take These Steps?

If a school learns that a student has been sexually harassed or assaulted, as was the case in Longview, WA, it could fail its Title IX obligations if:

• It doesn’t report the incident or incidents to the school district’s Title IX coordinator, or
• The Title IX coordinator doesn’t take steps to ensure the student’s safety going forward, and/or
• The Title IX coordinator doesn’t initiate an investigation

In Longview, WA — where the school superintendent faces criminal charges for blocking an investigation into allegations of sexual assault at a district high school — the reporting requirements outlined here were allowed to fall through the cracks.

As a result, the Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm will be suing the school district in court. Every student has the right to an education unimpeded by violence, harassment, or intimidation. We’re restoring that right to the students in Longview.

We’ll protect your Title IX rights, too. Call our Team at 888-535-3686 and tell us about your case, or send us a messageonline.