Thought Leadership

Is Your Title IX Team Ready for the New School Year?

The Department of Education recently issued a Dear Colleague letter reminding public K12 schools of their responsibilities under Title IX to respond to reports of sexual harassment and abuse of students by staff members. Effectively addressing reports of student-on-student and staff-on-student sexual harassment is a critically important function.

The post Is Your Title IX Team Ready for the New School Year? appeared first on Civil Rights Classroom.

The Not-Quite Digital Age: In-Person Attendance Remains an Essential Job Function

There’s no denying that the technological age is advancing at a rapid pace. We can buy groceries without entering the store, watch movies without entering the theater, and take our pick from thousands of books without ever entering the library. And the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that employees can perform their jobs without ever entering the workplace, right? Well, not quite. The Fort Worth Court of Appeals’ and Fifth Circuit’s recent opinions reveal that the digital age isn’t progressing as rapidly as one might think—at least, not when it comes to one’s essential job functions.

The post The Not-Quite Digital Age: In-Person Attendance Remains an Essential Job Function appeared first on Educated Employer.

Prepared Advisors; Effective Hearings; Clear Outcomes

In a Title IX dispute, the parties are entitled to be supported by advisors of their choice throughout the grievance process. Additionally, in the higher education setting, if a party does not have their own advisor, the institution is required to provide an advisor for the purpose of conducting cross-examination. Are the advisors supporting parties at your school effectively helping their advisees through the process? Are they conducting effective cross-examination to help the decisionmaker understand the evidence supporting disputed facts? Or are they interrupting and delaying proceedings and making it harder for your Title IX team to do their job? 

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The Changing OCR Title IX Enforcement Landscape 

On April 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education issued a press release finding four Kansas school districts violated federal education laws based on their policies relating to transgender students. This investigation is the latest in a series of investigations and press releases signaling a shift in how the Office for Civil Rights investigates, announces findings and seeks compliance.

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Digital Accessibility – Don’t Take Your Foot Off the Gas 

In the spring of 2024, DOJ published new ADA regulations requiring public entities covered by Title II of the ADA, including public school districts, colleges, and universities, to bring their websites, apps, course content, and new social media posts into compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. Initially, the deadline for compliance was April 24, 2026, for entities serving jurisdictions with a population greater than 50,000 people, and April 26, 2027, for entities serving smaller jurisdictions. Just four days before the initial deadline, DOJ published an Interim Final Rule postponing the compliance dates by one year. While the compliance deadline under the ADA regulations has been pushed back, the ADA itself, as well as Section 504, already require accessible websites and online resources, so public schools should continue their efforts to meet these standards. 

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Senate Bill 10 (the Ten Commandments statute) is ruled Constitutional

The post Senate Bill 10 (the Ten Commandments statute) is ruled Constitutional appeared first on The Oldest Blog.