GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The U.S. Department of Education and the Green Bay Area Public School District have reached an agreement resolving violations and compliance errors stemming from GBAPS’ response to sexual harassment reports.
It concludes a compliance audit initiated by the department’s Office for Civil Rights in May 2020, following an incident in August 2019. GBAPS says the incident took place off school premises during the summer months.
According to OCR, the school district “did not complete Title IX investigations of reported sexual misconduct, including in instances when law enforcement was concurrently investigating the same incident, or after the incident was referred to law enforcement, and when the district did not investigate reported employee sexual misconduct after an employee resigned.”
Additionally, OCR says it it identified further Title IX compliance errors “with the district’s inconsistent documentation of investigative steps taken in response to reports of possible sexual harassment.”
The district’s records suggest the district repeatedly did not have fulfill its Title IX obligation to respond equitably to substantiated sexual assaults and to allegations of sexual harassment to prevent recurrence of the harassment, eliminate the hostile environment, and remedy its effects.
Officials say GBAPS “voluntarily” entered into a resolution agreement to resolve the violations. It was signed Dec. 20.
“The Green Bay Area Public School District has now committed to take the steps necessary to effectively address sexual harassment in district schools,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon in a news release. “OCR looks forward to active work with the district to ensure its full compliance with Title IX.”
The release lists a number of commitments GBAPS agreed to in order to resolve the compliance review:
Ensuring its policies prohibiting sex discrimination and grievance procedures comply with Title IX
Properly notifying district employees, students, and parents of the district’s Title IX coordinator
Implementing a centralized recordkeeping system for documenting all reports, complaints, and investigations of sexual harassment
Training employees on how to respond to reports and complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment
Providing annual age-appropriate training to all students about how to recognize and report sexual harassment and receive supportive measures and remedies
Administering annual climate surveys of students and district employees with respect to sexual harassment in district schools and reporting to OCR for approval any responsive changes necessary to ensure Title IX compliance
Providing OCR with information regarding its response to each formal complaint of sexual harassment arising under Title IX during the 2024-2025 school year, and, if requested, the 2025-2026 school year
In a statement to FOX 11, GBAPS Director of Communications & Public Relations Lori Blakeslee said:
“The OCR audit found only a paperwork technicality based on the auditors’ interpretation of District policy, while ignoring the lack of direction in the regulations in place at the time. The OCR took five years to contact the District to propose the resolution agreement, which strongly suggests that the violations identified were technical in nature and that no student rights were ever jeopardized by the District’s Title IX practices. Ultimately, we are confident in the District’s sound practices in this context and therefore very comfortable complying with the obligations of the resolution agreement and putting a conclusion to this unnecessarily drawn out process.”
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