This article was updated on February 4, 2025.
As we alerted you to last month, on January 9, 2025, a federal district court in Kentucky vacated the 2024 Title IX Regulations. Unlike an injunction, which blocks enforcement, the court’s decision to vacate rescinds the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Title IX Regulations, meaning the 2024 regulations are no longer in effect nationwide. As a result, the 2020 Title IX Regulations (the regulations in effect from August 14, 2020, to July 31, 2024) are now reinstated and in effect.
While the school community quickly acknowledged the reinstatement of the 2020 Title IX Regulations following this federal district court decision, schools questioned the impact of this vacatur on pending Title IX investigations and sex-based discrimination allegations that occurred prior to January 9, 2025.
As of Friday, January 31, 2025, we now have an answer on the Department’s expectations following the reinstatement of the 2020 Title IX Regulations. On January 31, the Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) on enforcement of the 2020 Title IX Regulations. See OCR’s press release. OCR issued an updated version of the DCL on February 4, 2025, which replaces and supersedes the January 31 letter. Notably, the DCL directs that “open Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 Title IX Rule should be immediately reevaluated to ensure consistency with the requirements of the 2020 Title IX Rule and the preexisting regulations at 34 C.F. R. 106 et seq.” As such, any current Title IX investigations should no longer continue under the grievance process in the 2024 Title IX Regulations. Instead, school districts should immediately convert to the grievance process under the 2020 Title IX Regulations.
How best to effectuate this change will depend on the status of a current investigation, including a determination of whether certain allegations—i.e., allegations of sex-based discrimination—can/should remain under investigation pursuant to Title IX or should be dismissed and investigated under another school policy. Further, future complaints of Title IX sexual harassment should be responded to consistent with 2020 Title IX Regulations regardless of when the alleged conduct occurred. Please contact your legal counsel to discuss the application of the 2020 Title IX regulations to any Title IX claims and investigations.
The Department’s updated Title IX webpage includes resources on the 2020 Title IX regulations.
HLERK will continue to support schools/school districts with all aspects of legal compliance related to Title IX and navigating this process. Please contact us for guidance on updating your policies and procedures. We also will be providing training on the 2020 Title IX Regulations again, and our (updated) 2020 Title IX model resources will be available.
For school districts that subscribe to the IASB PRESS Policy Services, PRESS made available previous versions of sample policy 2:265, Title IX Grievance Procedures, and its accompanying procedures based on the 2020 Title IX Regulations. In addition, PRESS will include comprehensive updates to all Title IX-related PRESS materials in the next PRESS issue.
We recognize this is both complex and high profile. Please contact an attorney in our Students/Special Ed practice group, or any HLERK attorney, with your questions.
