DC Everest board reopens discussion of Title IX policy after public comments; legal counsel briefs board

The DC Everest Area School District board revisited its recently adopted Title IX policies (board policy 2264 and related policy 2266) on the evening the board heard eight public comments urging the district to repeal or delay the adoption.

The discussion, prompted by speakers at the public-comment period, included a legal overview from attorney Shana Lewis and questions from board members about the new Department of Education regulations, applicable court rulings and how the district should respond.

The briefing matters because the regulations and court rulings determine how schools must process complaints of sex-based discrimination, harassment and assault and how courts might judge a district's procedures if a lawsuit follows. Lewis told the board federal regulations and several court decisions affect local obligations and that the district faces different risks depending on whether it keeps, amends or rescinds its policies.

Shana Lewis, the district's outside legal counsel, opened with a short history of Title IX and the role of administrative regulations. "Title IX's text is simple," Lewis said. "No person in The United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefit of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." She reviewed the 2020 and 2024 Department of Education regulations and said most of the new text (she estimated about 95 percent) concerns procedural changes to how complaints are investigated and handled.

Lewis also…