Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs and activities. Title IX provides, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

As outlined in Board of Education policy #0110-R, Liberty Central School District is committed to preserving an educational and working environment free from unlawful sexual harassment on the basis of sex, gender, and/or sexual orientation in furtherance of the district’s commitment to provide a healthy and productive environment for all students, employees (including all staff, applicants for employment, both paid and unpaid interns, exempt and non-exempt status, part-time, seasonal and temporary workers, regardless of immigration status) and “non-employees” (i.e., contractors, subcontractors, vendors, consultant and others providing services pursuant to a contract, or their employees) that promotes respect, dignity and equality.

Complaints of sexual harassment will be thoroughly investigated to determine whether the totality of the behavior and circumstances meet any of the elements of the definition of sexual harassment and should therefore be treated as sexual harassment.

Those who believe they have been the target of sexual harassment by a student, district employee or “non-employee” or third party related to the school are encouraged to report complaints as soon as possible after the incident in order to enable the district to promptly and effectively investigate and resolve the complaint. Any person who witnesses or is aware of sexual harassment of a student, employee or “non-employee” is also encouraged to report the incident or behavior to the district. Targets are encouraged to submit the complaint in writing; however, complaints may be filed verbally.

Complaints should be filed with the building principal or the Title IX coordinator, Deborah DeGraw, to be investigated.

The role of the Title IX investigator is to thoroughly investigate all allegations of sexual harassment as defined above.  The investigations are carried out similarly to any other as follows:

• Notify the involved parties
• Gather the facts
• Review and analyze the information
• Determine whether a violation has occurred
• Write the report
• Notify the involved parties of the outcome

The Title IX coordinator must notify the involved parties that a complaint exists and an investigation will begin. The notice should include information about the investigation process, the allegations at hand, the complainants and respondent’s rights, the policy that alleged behavior violates and contact information for the investigator.

The next step of the Title IX investigation process is to gather information related to the allegations, i.e., documents, files, audio and video recordings, social media posts, cellphone records, etc.

The coordinator must interview all parties involved or mentioned in the allegation, review and analyze all information gathered and determine whether a violation occurred.

After making a determination, the coordinator will write an investigative report. The report must contain the initial allegations, the policy violated, the parties involved, the evidence gathered, a summary of the interviews and any other relevant information.

After the outcome is finalized, the coordinator must send a shorter determination of the outcome to both parties. This notice should include information about the outcome, reasons supporting the determination and, depending on the conclusion, the next steps in the Title IX process.