NHCS expands sexual assault training for students and teachers, hires investigator
NHCS expands sexual assault training for students and teachers, hires investigator By Ann McAdams | January 21, 2021 at 3:03 PM EST - Updated January 21 at 4:25 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) has come a long way in its efforts to effectively deal with sexual assault, and itâs letting the public know about it.
NHCS formed a Title IX committee in the Spring of 2019, in the wake of public outcry over the sexual assault of students by their teachers that spanned over the course of decades. Parents and victims complained of systemic issues that allowed the abuse to continue for years after they say it could have and should have been stopped.
Listen to the story here.
New Hanover County Schools is looking to revamp their district-wide Title IX survey. Proposed questions would include topics on discrimination, bullying, and school climate. And
maybe one on sexual harassment.
Title IX is a law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally-supported education program or activity. It has also been used in court cases to prevent sexual harassment and abuse.
With this proposed anonymous and voluntary survey for students, the school system would explore further issues with Title IX compliance. But contention around adding a certain question is partially to blame for its delayed rollout.
history with sex crimes against students, the most recent drafts have no mention of sexual assault.
It’s not clear who pulled the questions. However, it is clear the debate over whether or not to include the question of if a student has experienced sexual assault presents a legal liability to the district, hence why it has been hesitant to invite such disclosures through the survey.
Now, the district is going back to the drawing board on the recently debated survey.
Revisiting the survey
About a year ago, the school system was working to create a Title IX survey to send out to middle and high schoolers. However, that effort was largely abandoned when the pandemic hit and took students out of classrooms.