Stop Sexual Harassment in K–12 Act

Increased Oversight and Support: Local educational agencies must increase the number of full-time Title IX Coordinators based on student population (Section 2(a)(1)). This ensures more dedicated staff are available to manage compliance and support students.

Enhanced Transparency and Awareness: Schools are required to make students, parents, and staff aware of the Title IX Coordinator's role and availability (Section 2(a)(2)). This includes distributing information via school websites and handbooks (Section 2(b)(2)).

Standardized Data Collection: The Secretary of Education will develop an empirically validated, anonymous survey to assess sex-based harassment (Section 4(a)(1)). This allows schools to identify and address specific issues through data-driven insights.

Specialized Training: The bill authorizes grants to train teachers and staff on how to prevent, recognize, and respond to signs of sex-based harassment and assault (Section 3(a)).

Community Partnerships: Prevention training is intended to be conducted in partnership with local rape crisis centers, sexual assault coalitions, or domestic violence coalitions (Section 2(b)(8)).

Financial Burdens on Schools: Local educational agencies must increase full-time staff and implement various monitoring and training duties (Section 2). While grants are authorized to help, the bill acknowledges that these requirements could pose "insurmountable financial burdens" (Section 2(c)(1)).

Administrative Restrictions: Title IX Coordinators are prohibited from having other school-related responsibilities that create a conflict of interest, such as serving in school administrative leadership roles (Section 2(a)(3)).

Risk of Withheld Funding: If a school uses a waiver to provide an alternative plan and that plan is deemed insufficient to prevent or respond to harassment, the Secretary may withhold Federal financial assistance (Section 2(c)(3)).