BRIGHTON — Brighton Area Schools has received several recommendations from an independent, third-party law firm to improve its knowledge of Title IX matters in case of future complaints.
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any school or education program that receives funding from the federal government.
The audit, requested by the Brighton Schools Board of Education in early 2023, was in response to Title IX complaints over the past two years.
Those complaints include the mother of a former middle school student accusing the district of violating her daughter’s rights after she reported being raped by another student in the Brighton High School bathroom.
The assault was first reported to the Brighton Police Department on June 7, 2022, a few days after the alleged incident occurred. Six months later, after what she felt was inaction on the part of the school district, the mother filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Another student filed a federal Title IX lawsuit in April 2022 for an alleged sexual assault that resulted in retaliation from school officials.