The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has reached an agreement with Virginia Beach City Public Schools, after finding the division violated federal laws involving inadequate investigations and record-keeping of sexual misconduct reports..
Results of the investigation come after the Office for Civil Rights launched a national K-12 initiative in July to enforce Title IX, a statute barring sex-based discrimination at federally-funded schools, and to protect students from sexual misconduct while providing every child with a safe learning environment.
The initiative started with 20 directed investigations that appeared to “inadequately” address staff-on-student sexual misconduct. It’s unclear if Virginia Beach was one of those initial probes.
The agency reported last week that Virginia Beach schools recorded roughly 117 incidents of sexual harassment between 2017 and 2020 and produced 12 investigation reports for the Office for Civil Rights to review.
As part of the agreement, the district must now strengthen policies, training, reporting and investigations to ensure students are protected from sexual misconduct by teachers and school officials.
“We are encouraged by the district’s willingness to work with OCR to remedy its Title IX violations and take the necessary steps to comply with federal law,” Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for the Office of Civil Rights, said in a statement.
In a statement late Friday, the school division said OCR’s compliance review covered the 2017–2020 school years, before the division adopted its current Title IX procedures.
Since then, the division has hired a Title IX coordinator and provided training for staff.
“Nothing matters more to us than the safety of the children in our care,” Virginia Beach Schools Superintendent Donald Robertson Jr. said in a statement. “We take this seriously, and we welcome the opportunity to work alongside the Office for Civil Rights. This agreement gives us a shared roadmap to make sure every student, parent, and employee knows how to report a concern, knows that concern will be heard, and knows it will be addressed fairly and completely.”
Investigation background
Between 2017 and 2020, Virginia Beach schools failed to implement proper procedures, leaving alleged victims of sexual misconduct without the necessary support to have their allegations properly addressed, according to the agency’s findings.
The investigation also found that the school division handled reports of sexual misconduct only as disciplinary issues at the school level, without a grievance process, support for the accused, or notification of outcomes to both sides, according to the agency.
If teachers or other employees accused of sexual misconduct resigned, the Virginia Beach school district stopped investigating sexual harassment complaints against those individuals altogether, the agency said.
The findings determined the school division violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
The law also requires schools with knowledge of sexual harassment or sexual assault to respond promptly and in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent.
As part of the agreement, OCR requires Virginia Beach schools to take several actions, including updating its Title IX policies to ensure there are fair grievance procedures for both student-on-student and staff-on-student allegations of sexual misconduct or assault.
All division employees must be trained on the school system’s Title IX policies and procedures, as approved by OCR, including how to identify sexual harassment, and employees’ legal obligations to report sexual harassment, whether by students or employees.
Virginia Beach must also notify students, parents and employees that the district has a Title IX coordinator who will properly implement investigation and grievance procedures.
The district must also communicate how it defines sexual harassment, available resources for students actions students can take if they are victims, and the Title IX Coordinator’s responsibilities.
The school division must ensure it responds to all reports or complaints of alleged sexual harassment, including staff-on-student harassment, in a manner consistent with Title IX, even if the accused employee resigns.
School officials must create a record-keeping system that preserves all records as required by Title IX, including interview notes and witness statements, support measures, and notice of outcomes to both parties.
Virginia Beach schools will also distribute, pending OCR approval, an updated nondiscrimination statement online and in student and employee handbooks.
