Title IX
Pursuant to Federal Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”), implemented at 34 C.F.R. § 106.31, subd. (a), each MPCSD student and employee has a right to learn and work in an environment that is safe free from unlawful discrimination and are treated equally and fairly. Menlo Park City School District (MPCSD) is committed to provide a workplace and educational environment free of sexual harassment and considers such harassment to be a major offense, which may result in disciplinary action. This policy is inclusive of instances that occur while the following: on any school campus; at school-sponsored events and activities, regardless of location; through school-owned technology; and through other electronic means. In May of 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) issued new Title IX regulations. The new regulations describe what constitutes sexual harassment under Title IX, what triggers a school's legal obligation to respond, and how a school must respond.
The regulations include:
(1) a specific definition of sexual harassment,
(2) specific items that must be included in the notice of a grievance process once a complaint is filed, and
(3) delineated steps and considerations that must be included in any investigation.
Further, in order to maintain compliance with Title IX, schools are required to respond to a sexual harassment complaint “without deliberate indifference”. A school is deliberately indifferent only if its response to sexual harassment is clearly unreasonable in light of the known circumstances.
Sexual harassment is now officially defined as behavior on the basis of sex that is one or more of the following types of behavior:
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A school employee conditioning provision of an aid, benefit or service upon a person’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct, a.k.a. quid pro quo; or
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Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person, to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the school’s educational program or activity; or
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Sexual assault, (an offense classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense under the uniform crime reporting system of the FBI), dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking
Title IX Training Information:
Title IX Compliance: Title IX Coordinator
Title IX Compliance: Investigator, Decision Makeup, and other Title IX Team Members
Title IX Compliance: All Employees
Title IX Applicable Board Policies & Adminstrative Regulations Include:
BP 4030: Nondiscrimination in Employment
AR 4030: Nondiscrimination in Employment
BP 5145.3: Nondiscrimination/Harassment
AR 5145.3: Nondiscrimination/Harassment
AR 5145.71: Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedures
BP 5146: Married/Pregnant/Parenting Students
BP 6164.6: Identification and Education Under Section 504
AR 6164.6: Identification and Education Under Section 504
BP 6145: Extracurricular and Cocurricular Activities
Title IX Complaint Form:
Title IX Coordinator
Every school or school district that receives federal funding (which includes almost all colleges and universities, as well as public elementary, middle, and secondary schools) is required to designate and/or adequately train at least one employee to coordinate the recipients Title IX responsibilities. Title IX regulations also require that the name(s) and contact information of each Title IX coordinator be made public by the educational institution.
Audra Romero, Director of Human Resources:
District Title IX Coordinator for Staff Members
aromero@mpcsd.org / (650) 321-7140 x5602
Stephanie Sheridan, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services:
District Title IX Coordinator for Student Matters
ssheridan@mpcsd.org / (650) 321-7140 x5607