Grievance Procedures in Maryland
...stance. Institutions that violate Title IX can lose their federal funding, but the courts usually provide them with an opportunity to comply with the amendment before revoking any funds. Additionally, if any part of a system receives federal funds, the entire system must comply with Title IX regulations. HEA funding falls into four main categories: financial aid to students, financial aid to institutions, high school completion programs, and K-12 teacher training, Summary of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act states that individuals cannot be excluded from participating in or receiving benefits from any federal, state, or local agency; or any program or activity receiving federal assistance; on the basis of a disability. A disability can be a physical or mental impairment. Types of Cases involving Title IX and Section 504 in public schools: Many cases of race, gender, religious, or disability discrimination can also be tried as violations of the Fourteenth Amendment or even state tort law. According to our textbook, facial discrimination often merits scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment, but facially neutral practices that result in discrimination can be tried as violations of Title IX or Section 504. Title IX cases involve gender equity in athletics, gender equity in school admissions and academic programs, gender-based sexual harassment claims, and gender discrimination in marriage and pregnancy issues. Some of the earliest cases involving Title IX litigation focused on gender equity in school sports programs: funding, season schedules, locker room conditions, athletic opportunities for women, team composition, etc. A more recent and unusual case of Title IX litigation involves student-to-student sexual harassment. When a fifteen year-old girl, Ortralla Mosely, was stabbed to death in a hallway at school by her ex-boyfriend on March 28, 2003, her mother, Carolyn Mosely Samuel, filed a lawsuit against the school district under Title IX, citing that school officials had been “deliberately indifferent” to the boy’s violent behavior and to her daughter’s complaints of the boy’s harassment. In addition to her suit against the district, Mosely Samuel, settled a lawsuit for $300,000 against the boy’s family for failing to properly monitor the behavior of the boy. Niether Ortralla Mosely or her mother filed a grievance concerning the harassment prior to the murder, but both had a right to do so and may have prevented the murder if they had. Equity Supervisors: Under Title IX, school systems must designate at least one employee to oversee compliance and to investigate complaints of discrimination. Students, employees, and parents must be notified of the name, office address, and telephone number of the coordinator in all of a school system’s major publications. Baltimore County does this through its sexual harassment pamphlets that it distributes each new semester or academic year, its student and faculty handbooks, and its website. Besides monitoring and preventing sexual harassment and discrimination, a Title IX Coordinator may also monitor equity and fairness in admissions, educational programs and activities (housing, other facilities, course offerings, access to schools in district, counseling, extra-curricular activities, financial assistance, health services, insurance, marriage and parental status, athletics, and physical education), and employment procedures. Districts with multiple schools are not required, but are encouraged to consider placing a Title IX coordinator in each school. Baltimore County has two people employed in this office: our coordinator and her assistant. Grievance procedures must be determined by the school system and must provide prompt and equitable resolution of the complaints. Procedures and policy notices must be made public, and their attendant forms must be made available in schools and local libraries. Assistance in filing a grievance cannot be denied to a student, parent, or school employee alleging sexual harassment. Grievanc...