Jefferson County Public Schools
Official with Authority (OWA) Initial Notice
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal gender equity law which governs how educational institutions receiving federal funds must respond to allegations of sex and gender-based discrimination, harassment, and violence and/or retaliation.
In accordance with the new regulations, Jefferson County Public Schools has revised its Discrimination and Harassment policies which are available on the JCPS website.
The regulations state: “Under these final regulations, in elementary and secondary schools, notice to ‘any employee’ (in addition to notice to the Title IX Coordinator or to any official with authority) triggers the recipient’s response obligations.”
Official with Authority (OWA) means any Jefferson County Public Schools employee. See the Official with Authority (OWA) Initial Notice on Compliance and Investigation Website.
Notice means that an employee, student, or third-party informs the Title IX Coordinator or other Official with Authority of the alleged occurrence of sex or gender-based discrimination, harassment, or violence and/or retaliatory conduct involving students, employees, or third parties.
Title IX Sexual Harassment is defined by the 2020 Title IX Regulation and Jefferson County Board of Education Policy as:
- An employee of the District conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of the District on an individuals participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (i.e., quid pro quo sexual harassment);
- Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the District’s education program or activity;
- “Sexual assault” as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(v), “dating violence” as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(10), “domestic violence” as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(8), or “stalking” as defined in 34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(30). For purposes of this definition, “sexual assault” means an offense that meets the definition of rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape as used in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting system. A sex offense is an act directed against another person, without the consent of the second person, including instances where the second person is incapable of giving consent.3
The term “dating violence” means violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim and where the existence of such a relationship shall be based on the following factors: the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
The term “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction.
The term “stalking” means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress.
As an Official with Authority, if you receive notice of any of the following behaviors, you are required to promptly report within two (2) business days all known information regarding the alleged misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator, with respect to:
Title IX Sexual Harassment
Reports of notice or complaints of sex or gender-based discrimination, harassment, violence, and/or retaliatory conduct are to be made using any of the following options:
1) Report to Dr. Georgia Hampton, Director, Compliance and Investigations, and Title IX Coordinator, directly. Such a report may be made at any time (including during non-business hours) via telephone or email address, or by mail to the office address, listed for the Title IX Coordinator or any other official listed.
2) Report online, using the reporting form posted at this link.
OWAs are not permitted to submit anonymous reports. This means that an OWA must include their own name and contact information when submitting a report as well as all information known which created notice. It is not the OWA’s responsibility to determine if the institution has jurisdiction over the alleged misconduct. The Title IX Coordinator, or designee, will make that determination on behalf of the institution.
Fulfilling the reporting requirement under Title IX does not fulfill state mandated reporting obligations, which must be fulfilled separately. Please refer to the Mandated CPS Reporting Memo from Dr. Pollio, dated July 2, 2020.
Thank you for your assistance in complying with this federal law and supporting the need to maintain an environment free of sex and gender-based discrimination, violence, and harassment, and retaliatory conduct.
If you have any questions about this notification, please contact the District Title IX Coordinator:
Lindsay Wright, Assistant General Counsel
District Title IX Coordinator
District ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Coordinator
Jefferson County Public Schools
C.B. Young Jr. Service Center
3001 Crittenden Drive
Louisville, KY 40209
(502) 485-3341