Tri County Area Schools Title IX Law & Grievance Procedures

Title IX

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces, among other statutes, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.  Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assitance.  Title IX states that:

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 receiveing Federal Financial assistance.

Scope of Title IX

Title IX applies to institutions that receive Federal financial assistance from ED, including state and local education agencies.  These agencies include approximately 16,500 local school districts, 7,000 postsecondary institutions, as well as charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, and museums.  Also included are vocational rehabilitation agencies and education agencies of 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories and possessions of the United States.

Educational programs and activities that received ED funds must operate in a nondiscriminatory manner.  Some key issue areas in which recipients have Title IX obligations are: recruitment, admissions, and counseling; financial assistance; athletics; sex-based harassment; treatment of pregnant and parenting students; discipline; single-sex education; and employment.  Also, a recipient may not retaliate against any person for opposing an unlawful education practice or policy, or made charges, testified or particpated in any complaint action under Title IX.  For a recipient to retaliate in any way is considered a violation of Title IX.  The ED Title IX regulations (Volume 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 106) provide additional information about the forms of discrimination prohibitied by Title IX.

TCAS Board of Education Policy

District Compliance Officers

The Board of Education designates the folliwng individuals to serve as the District's "Compliance Officers" (also known as "Civil Rights coordinators."):

Superintendent of Schools                                              Director of Special Education
Allen Cumings                                                                 Melissa Clegg
94 Cherry Street, PO Box 79                                           94 Cherry Street, PO Box 79
Sand Lake, MI  49343                                                     Sand Lake, MI  49343
acumings@tricountyschools.com                                    mclegg@tricountyschools.com
Ph:  616-636-5454                                                           Ph:  616-636-5454

New Policies

5225 - Prohibition of Referral or Assistance
7161 - Recording of District Meetings Involving Students and/or Parents