Did you know search engines like Google are changing the way you see news? Keep Chalkbeat’s valuable education coverage at the top of your feeds by clicking here and checking the box next to our name.
The U.S. Department of Education is opening multiple investigations into the handling of staff-on-student sexual misconduct claims in school districts nationwide, including the New York City Department of Education and Jeffco Public Schools in Colorado.
Department officials in a press release Tuesday said the new slate investigations by the Office for Civil Rights is designed to crack down on so-called “pass the trash” practices, in which school district inaction and loopholes in state laws across the country have allowed educators accused of misconduct to teach elsewhere.
The agency also announced investigations into school districts in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia.
A set of investigations the department announced in July are also a part of this effort. The agency has cited troubling allegations of sexual abuse and harassment involving schools, including reporting by ProPublica that found 67 instances where California did not revoke credentials from educators found to have committed harassment or misconduct in school investigations.
Some of the investigations involve districts like Jeffco, in Colorado’s Jefferson County, and the Los Angeles Unified School District that the Trump administration has targeted in probes over more-partisan issues, such as the inclusion of transgender students in sports.
“By opening these investigations, our message is clear: we will always protect our children so parents should never have to wonder if their kids are safe at school,” said Kimberly Richey, assistant secretary for civil rights, in the press release.
It’s unclear what specific allegations prompted the Education Department to open these cases. The agency’s press releases cites reporting on New York from The 74 that found nearly 2,000 complaints filed under the state’s Child Victims Act accusing school staff members of sexual abuse, though that figure includes private schools and public schools across New York’s 62 counties, not just New York City.
“We take allegations of abuse very seriously,” wrote Nicole Brownstein, a spokeswoman for NYC Public Schools, in an email to Chalkbeat. “If an allegation arises, we immediately take steps to provide support for the student, refer the case to the appropriate investigatory body, and pursue disciplinary action. We are reviewing the Department’s complaint.”
Jeffco Public Schools, the second-largest district in Colorado, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Chalkbeat. The NYC and Jeffco districts were the only ones identified by name in the Education Department’s Tuesday press release.
In recent years, several Jeffco school employees — including a former school social worker, a former after-school program employee, and a former high school security guard — have been convicted of sexually abusing students, leading to outrage in the community and calls for better oversight. A former top district official was found to have bought child pornography, but an investigation didn’t find evidence of inappropriate direct contact with juveniles.
The Jeffco district separately has been under federal scrutiny for its policies that support of transgender students. In an ongoing lawsuit, the district is suing the Trump administration to prevent the Education Department from withholding $50 million in federal funding over such policies.
The new Title IX probes come a week after the Trump administration formally reinstated 2020 rules governing education civil rights law. Advocates for survivors of campus sexual assault decried the move, which they say includes provisions that will make it more difficult for victims to prove their case, while supporters of the change said it would treat such allegations with appropriate seriousness.
Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org. Lily is on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
