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Title IX

What is Title IX?

In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, the Clear Creek Amana Community School District prohibits sex discrimination, including sexual harassment as defined by the regulations implementing Title IX (34 C.F.R. § 106.30), against any individual participating in any education program or activity of the District.  This prohibition on discrimination applies to students, employees, and applicants for employment. 

The Board authorizes the Superintendent to adopt procedures for any individual to report sexual harassment to the District’s Title IX Coordinator, for the provision of supportive measures to anyone who has been subjected to sexual harassment whether or not they proceed with a formal complaint under those procedures, and for the investigation and resolution of such complaints, as required by Title IX.  This Title IX grievance process shall be used to respond to all complaints of sexual harassment that fall within the scope of Title IX.  For complaints of sexual harassment that do not fall within the scope of Title IX, the District may still offer supportive measures to the subject of such conduct and shall apply any other policy or procedure applicable to the alleged conduct.

Any individual with questions about the District’s Title IX policy and procedures, or who would like to make a report or file a formal complaint of sex discrimination or sexual harassment may contact the District’s designated Title Coordinator.

Retaliation against a person who made a report or complaint of sexual harassment, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation or resolution of a sexual harassment report or complaint is strictly prohibited. Retaliation includes threats, coercion, discrimination, intimidation, reprisals, and/or adverse actions related to employment or education.  Any individual who believed they have been retaliated against in violation of this Policy should immediately contact the District’s Title IX Coordinator.

What is Sexual Harassment?

Sexual harassment means unwelcome behavior or conduct (physical, verbal, written, electronic) that is directed at someone because of that person's sex or gender, and that meets any of the following definitions:

  1. “Quid Pro Quo” Harassment.  A District employee explicitly or implicitly conditions the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of the District on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct; OR
  1. Hostile Educational/Work Environment.  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 District’s education program or activity; OR
  1. Sexual assault.  An offense that meets the definition any one of the following offenses:
    • Rape:  the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus, with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person without consent of the victim;
    • Fondling:  the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification without consent of the victim;
    • Incest:  sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law; or
    • Statutory rape:  sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent; OR
  2. Stalking:
  • Purposefully engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person ("target") that would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily injury to, or the death of, the target or a member of the target’s immediate family;
  • when the person ("stalker") knows or should know that the target will be placed in reasonable fear of bodily injury to, or the death of, the target or a member of the target’s immediate family by the course of conduct; and
  • the stalker’s course of conduct induces fear in the target of bodily injury to, or the death of, the target or a member of the target’s immediate family; OR
  1. Dating Violence:  violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of:
  • The length of the relationship.
  • The type of relationship.
  • The frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship; OR
  1. Domestic Violence: any felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed:
  • By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
  • By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
  • By a person who is cohabiting with, or has cohabited with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
  • By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the State of Iowa; or
  • By any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the State of Iowa.

POLICY SCOPE

This Policy applies to all persons participating in the District’s education program or activity, including students and employees and applicants for employment.  Under Title IX the District has jurisdiction over locations, events or circumstances over which it substantially controls the Respondent and the context in which the harassment occurs.  The District’s jurisdiction is limited to conduct against a person that occurs in the United States.
Any person may make a report of sexual harassment to the District’s Title IX Coordinator.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The District is committed to creating an environment that encourages individuals to come forward if they have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment. However, the District cannot promise absolute confidentiality to any party.  District employees cannot promise confidentiality to any student who reports possible sexual harassment to them. 
The District will keep confidential the identity of any individual who has made a report or complaint of sex discrimination or sexual harassment, or has been identified as the perpetrator or respondent to any such report or complaint, or is a witness to any complaint or investigation, except as required to carry out the purposes of this Policy (including the conduct of any complaint resolution process), applicable law, or as permitted by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. 

REPORTING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, INCLUDING SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Employee Reporting Obligations

Any District employee who witnesses or becomes aware of sexual harassment has an affirmative obligation to report immediately to the District’s Title IX Coordinator or to their building principal or immediate supervisor.  Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action against the employee, up to and including termination of employment.

Reporting to Law Enforcement

Because sexual misconduct may constitute both a violation of District policy and criminal activity, individuals who have been subject to criminal sexual misconduct may wish to report their concerns to law enforcement. An individual may proceed under this Policy whether or not they elect to report to law enforcement.

Reporting to the District

Any individual who wishes to make a report or file a formal complaint of sexual harassment may contact the District’s Title IX Coordinator.  Their contact information can be found under section I. Allegations that an employee of the District has engaged in sexual harassment toward a student must be immediately reported or referred to the District’s designated Level 1 Investigator, and must be handled in accordance with 281 Iowa Administrative Code Chapter 102 (Procedures for Charging and Investigating Incidents of Abuse of Students by School Employees).  The Level 1 Investigator shall be responsible for complying with the requirements of Chapter 102, including with respect to reporting the alleged conduct to law enforcement or other appropriate state agencies.  The Level 1 Investigator shall work with the District’s Title IX Coordinator to determine how to preserve or restore the student’s access to the District’s education program and activities.

Amnesty for Complainants and Participants in Investigations

The District may still notify the parent/guardian of the student(s) involved in such possession/use to promote the student safety and well-being or otherwise report such possession or use as required by law.

Retaliation Prohibited

Retaliation against a person who makes a report or complaint of sexual harassment, or who assists, or participates in any manner in an investigation or resolution of a sexual harassment report or complaint is strictly prohibited. Retaliation includes threats, coercion, discrimination, intimidation, reprisals, and/or adverse actions related to employment or education.  Any individual who believes they have been retaliated against in violation of this Policy should immediately contact the District’s Title IX Coordinator.
This Policy’s antiretaliation protections do not apply to any individual who makes a materially false statement in bad faith in the course of any complaint, investigation, hearing, or other proceeding under this Policy.  However, a determination that an individual made a materially false statement in bad faith must be supported by some evidence other than the determination of whether the Respondent violated this Policy alone.  An individual who makes a materially false statement in bad faith may be subject to discipline up to and including suspension or expulsion of a student or termination of an employee’s employment.

Title IX