MILFORD, DE -- In a unanimous vote, the Milford School District Board of Education recently voted to approve and implement a revised, federally mandated Title IX policy.
According to Milford School Board Vice President Matt Bucher, the board was the first of Delaware's 19 school districts to do so.
Bucher says the board knew that the policy change was coming about a year ago.
"When it was officially released in June, 15 of the 19 Delaware Public School comprehensive school districts pulled the resources and came up with this policy as worded," says Bucher. "You should see in the other districts in the next days and weeks."
He describes three major changes in the new Title IX policy:
1.) If an alleged aggressor and victim involved in a sexual harassment incident off campus, the district must report AND investigate the incident.
2.) All district staff must go through Title IX training.
3.) If the administration becomes aware of a potential incident, must not wait for a complaint and proactively investigate the incident.
"All three of those items adjunctly I think are pretty consequential, and some of them I would day are probably welcomed to make a safer, more secure, and probably welcoming environment," says Bucher.
Bucher says the policy was approved at an early morning meeting on June 29, 2024 to meet an August 1st deadline.
He also addressed concerns about gender identity under the new policy.
"That doesn't really come into play here," says Bucher. "In the State of Delaware SB97, which was signed into law in 2013 and has been in place for more than 11 years, adds gender identity and sexual characteristics to a list of protected classes."
For access to both the old and new Title IX policies, click here.
