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Title IX Rights
In compliance with the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Big Beaver Falls Area School District has provided the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, with documentation which affirms its policy of ensuring that all pupils, support employees, professional employees, and administrative employees should enjoy a learning and/or working environment free from all forms of discrimination, including sexual harassment.
The District’s statement of nondiscrimination, as well as its Title IX Grievance Procedure for dealing with “Complaints of Sex Discrimination,” has been accepted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office.The BBF Grievance Procedure involves the following steps:
1- Any student, employee, or visitor who feels he/she is a victim of sexual harassment should contact the Superintendent of Schools as soon as possible after the incident occurs. If the incident is reported to an intermediary party, that intermediary party must immediately contact the superintendent.
Within three days of the initial report, the complainant must submit a written, signed statement describing the incident and complaint.
2- The Superintendent will then notify the person named as the perpetrator of alleged sexual harassment, provide the basis of the complaint, and request a written response to the allegations within seven days.
3- The Superintendent will carry out a thorough factual investigation, including interviews with all those with relevant information, particularly the complainant and the person accused.
4- With the District solicitor’s counsel, the Superintendent will draft a confidential summary of the complaint to the Board of School Directors and recommend a course of action for their consideration. The complainant and the person[s] charged with sexual harassment will be notified by the Superintendent of the Board’s decision.
5- If it is determined that sexual harassment has occurred, disciplinary action appropriate to the offense will be taken.
6- Reporting a sexual harassment incident after 10 days of its occurrence or failing to submit a written complaint within three days of a verbal report will seriously impair the District’s ability to deal with the incident successfully.
The full text of the District’s Title IX Compliance documents are available in the Superintendent’s Office at 1503 Eighth Avenue, Beaver Falls, PA 15010.