The U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Office has launched a federal investigation into the Gwinnett County Public School District's handling of two cases of alleged sexual misconduct. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education would not comment specifically on the nature of the allegations.
The first case stems from a complaint filed in March, and the second federal probe was opened up at the district, on September 15th, according to a US D.O.E. spokesperson. In both cases, the feds are probing whether the district violated any portion of Title IX. Title IX is a comprehensive federal law, that prohibits any discrimination on the basis of sex. In 2011, the Office of Civil Rights issued a memo to schools, explaining their responsibility as it relates to promptly and effectively responding to sexual violence against students, in compliance with Title IX, according to the US Department of Education's website.
"Generally speaking in these sexual misconduct cases it involves an allegation that the school district didn't properly respond to an instance of sexual misconduct involving students," said Dan Cohen, who heads Baker Donelson's Higher Education Group and frequently consults schools on Title IX compliance.
"It starts with the reputation and ultimately federal funding that could put at risk Title I funds and other funds that enable them to operate on a daily basis," said Cohen, when asked what could happen if the school district is found in violation of Title IX.
"We are aware of OCR's investigation and cooperating fully. That said, the district is unable to comment on ongoing investigations. Gwinnett County Public Schools takes complaints of sexual harassment and sexual assault very seriously and investigates them thoroughly," said Sloan Roach, a spokesperson for Gwinnett County Public Schools.
The second probe comes at the heels of a case involving Parkview High School Baseball players accused of physically and sexually assaulting a teammate at a South Carolina Hotel. However, the feds won't confirm if that is what prompted their probe.
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