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Stoughton school board approves multiple policy updates, delays final action on Title IX revisions
Summary
The Stoughton Area School District board approved four policy updates and voted to send two Title IX–related policies back to the Climate and Culture work group after legal guidance prompted caution about the 2024 federal Title IX regulations.
The Stoughton Area School District Board of Education voted to approve four district policy updates on Tuesday while sending two Title IX–related policies back to its Climate and Culture work group for further revision.
Board members voted to approve updated policies on emergency medical authorization, due process consolidation, student complaints and student mental-health services, and to return the district’s Title IX policies to the work group for additional review. The motion to separate the Title IX items was approved in a roll-call vote; one board member recorded a “no.”
Board administrators said the request to delay final action on the Title IX items came after a federal court ruling that enjoined the 2024 Title IX regulations and legal review from the district’s policy vendor and its counsel.
A district administrator summarized the recommendation: “The recommendation from Neola based on that is to take the 2024 out and in 2020 remove the lines that say any occurrence prior to August 1. So essentially, if there’s a 2020 violation, these are going to be the rules that we follow,” the administrator said.
Why it matters: the 2024 Title IX regulations created new organizational roles and investigatory options for school districts; a federal district court order has since removed the 2024 rules from effect nationwide. District staff told the board that reverting to the 2020 Title IX framework reduces the district’s legal exposure while preserving other anti-harassment protections already in district policy.
Board discussion focused on how the district currently handles allegations that may touch on gender identity or related protections. The administrator explained the district’s approach: coordinators review complaints and determine whether Title IX procedures apply, and the district’s other anti-harassment and bullying policies already reference gender identity and gender nonconformity.
Several board members also asked staff to have the Climate and Culture work group review employee and student anti-harassment policies for consistency and to consider adding a district values statement to policies so the public can readily see the district’s commitments.
The board approved the remaining four policies after a motion to separate the Title IX items. The district will send the rescinded 2024-based Title IX policy and the modified 2020 Title IX policy back to the Climate and Culture work group for revision and return to the board.
