VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A review by the federal Department of Education found that the Virginia Beach public school system had violated federal Title IX law for years, asserting that school officials failed to “adequately investigate and record reports of sexual misconduct against students.”
The federal agency’s Office for Civil Rights and the Virginia Beach school system reached an agreement last month that resolved the review, which concerned issues reported between 2017 and 2020. The agency concluded Virginia Beach schools had, among other things, not adequately ensured “that it responds to all reports or complaints of alleged sexual harassment, including employee-on-student sexual harassment, in a manner consistent with Title IX, including ensuring that it fully investigates allegations, regardless of whether an employee/respondent resigns,” the documents read.
In a letter outlining the office’s findings, Dan Greenspahn, regional director for the federal office, wrote that there had been 697 reported incidents of student-on-student and employee-on-student sexual misconduct during those school years. The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press obtained the letter and agreement through the Freedom of Information Act…