Today marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX being enacted in the United States.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity.

The Title IX of education amendments of 1972 states “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

The purpose of the Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 was to update Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned several forms of discrimination in employment but did not address discrimination in education.

In 2022, Title IX offers protections on the basis of gender identity, sexual orientation, and race. It promises equal opportunity for student athletes regardless of gender and provides an avenue for students to report discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or race or to report sexual harassment or sexual assault.

The News Courier spoke with the Limestone County School System’s human resources department regarding its Title IX compliance.

Title IX pertaining to athletics

Every year, LCS performs an audit to ensure male and female sports are given equal opportunities.

The audit allows the school system to determine if male and female sports have access to equal facilities and programs and if coaches in male and female sports are given equal supplements.

There are currently renovation and construction projects underway at multiple schools to ensure Title IX equality compliance, including a new girl’s bathroom and locker room facility at Clements High School.

Title IX pertaining to discrimination and sexual assault/harassment

LCS has a dedicated page to its Human Resource Department, where all Title IX resources can be found. It lists Carmon Hogan as the Title IX coordinator and provides all necessary information to file a complaint with the office.

“We do have a Title IX coordinator, (Hogan) is identified if you go to our website and you go to the formal complaint form; it tells you who our Title IX coordinator is, and she works here in our office. Her name is Carmon Hogan. It also has her phone number and her email address,” said Bill Tribble, executive director of human resources and operations in the Limestone County Schools.

At the beginning of the school year, all students and employees are given a student handbook that includes information regarding filing a Title IX complaint. It informs students and employees of rights given to them by Title IX and how to proceed with filing a complaint.

When a student or employee files a complaint, they must give as much information as possible regarding the incident.

Once a complaint is filed, an investigation is triggered if the Title IX coordinator deems the incident as rising to the occasion of Title IX.

“In many instances, we have to get our school board lawyer involved, because it’s a very detailed process,” said Tribble. “Once that complaint is received, then we actually have what we call prosecutors. It’s very much like a criminal case.”

Currently under Title IX, there are protections in place both for the complainant and the defendant down through the high school level.

“Title IX changed a little bit … it kind of branched down into high schools more than it used to. Title IX now kind of makes it where all information is shared by those that are making the complaint as well as those that are, you know, being subjected to the complaint,” said Tribble. “So, we do our very best to avoid sharing information, but part of Title IX law does allow, you know, the person to know what they’re being kind of charged with now, which has changed a lot from what it used to be.”

Beyond information being protected, Title IX cases differ from school Code of Conduct offenses in how no one involved can be punished until the investigation is complete.

“If it rises to Title IX, no one can be punished until the investigation has run its course, which is also different than it used to be. So, it’s a pretty lengthy process. It’s a pretty detailed process, but it’s designed to, you know, protect the accuser. It’s also designed to protect those accused from being punished before due process has been run,” said Tribble.

Conducting a Title IX investigation is a lengthy process.

“We take this report, we go talk to the party accused of the offense or discrimination; we talk to witnesses; we gather statements; we bring that back; and then, you know, we have someone, like our superintendent, who looks at that and decides is this a Title IX complaint, and if it is, then we go to the punishment stage,” said Tribble.

Title IX information, including the official complaint form, for LCS can be found at https://www.lcsk12.org/humanresources.