On July 10, 2026, the United States Department of Education (Department)’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (Letter), calling on educational institutions to ensure compliance with federal laws designed to protect children from sexual misconduct in schools.
Although the Letter does not create new legal requirements, it signals OCR’s continued focus on investigating allegations of sexual abuse, harassment, and related failures by schools to respond appropriately.
Below, KingSpry’s Employment Law Chair and Education Law Attorney, Avery E. Smith, Esq., summarizes the Letter and identifies key compliance considerations for schools under the ESEA, Title IX, and mandatory reporting laws.
Failure to Protect Children in Schools
“The Department [of Education] has observed a troubling and recurring pattern in schools across the Nation,” Secretary of Education Linda E. McMahon wrote, “of credible reports of sexual abuse and harassment by adults in positions of authority going uninvestigated.” The Department has also observed educational institutions protecting employees over students and allowing alleged predatory conduct to remain unresolved.
The Letter calls on schools to comply with applicable federal laws and to end what the Department characterizes as an “alarming failure to protect children” from sexual abuse and harassment in schools. Importantly, most public school administrators stand in loco parentis, meaning schools have a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to protect student safety and may face liability when they fail to comply with federal law.
Legal Obligations
ESEA. First, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), prohibits what are commonly known as “pass the trash” practices. Specifically, recipients of federal funding under the ESEA must maintain “laws, regulations, or policies [prohibiting] school employees, contractors, agents, and educational agencies from helping a school employee or contractor obtain a new position when there is knowledge or probable cause to believe that the individual engaged in sexual misconduct involving a student.”
The Department is now urging all covered entities to take their obligations under the ESEA “more seriously.” Accordingly, schools and other covered entities should expect increased compliance monitoring by the Department in the near future.
The Letter also addresses circumstances in which teachers’ unions have opposed reforms intended to increase protections for children, clarifying that “pressure from organized labor is not an excuse to ignore ESEA’s strictures.” Schools, therefore, should not permit disagreements with employee unions to interfere with their legal obligations under federal law.
Title IX. Second, Title IX of the Education Amendments (Title IX) prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” in any education program receiving federal funds. In certain circumstances, sex discrimination includes both employee-on-student harassment and student-on-student harassment.
Under Title IX, covered entities with actual knowledge of sexual harassment by school employees or students must “respond promptly and in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent.” Schools that fail to respond appropriately may face liability.
The Letter, again, stresses that collective bargaining agreements do not override legal obligations under Title IX. As Secretary McMahon explained, “State law, local district policy, and collective bargaining agreements (CBA) can neither trump a federal funding recipient’s obligations under Title IX nor excuse a Title IX violation.”
Covered schools should be cautious when entering into CBAs or other agreements that could prevent, delay, or condition compliance with Title IX investigation and response requirements. Like the ESEA, Title IX will likely be an area of increased OCR enforcement, particularly where schools have entered into agreements that conflict with their federal obligations.
Best practices for Title IX compliance, as discussed in the Letter, include:
- Enforcing Title IX policies;
- Completing all opened Title IX investigations;
- Making meaningful inquiries into all complaints before closing them;
- Responding appropriately and promptly to all allegations; and
- Exercising caution when writing letters of recommendation for employees who have resigned while facing probable disciplinary action.
Mandatory Reporting. Additionally, “all 50 States have laws making teachers mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse,” including abuse by school staff. This has important implications for Title IX liability, as a school district will generally be deemed “on notice” when any employee is aware of sexual harassment. Schools must, therefore, ensure that employees comply with mandatory reporting requirements and that the school separately satisfies its Title IX obligations once such information is known.
The Letter emphasizes that referring a matter to law enforcement is only the beginning. As Secretary McMahon wrote, “[r]eferral to law enforcement or other investigative entities—alone—is not sufficient to meet the school’s obligations under Title IX.” Schools must go beyond initial reporting and conduct their own Title IX-compliant investigations and responses, as appropriate.
National Initiative Continues
Secretary McMahon mentioned President Trump’s “national initiative to combat sexual assault in K-12 public schools,” which launched in 2019. Through the Letter, the Department has made clear that it intends to continue this initiative and “remind schools once again of their obligation under Title IX” to track and respond to allegations of sexual misconduct perpetrated by staff.
Bottom Line for Schools
The Letter identifies three (3) action items for educational institutions:
1. Ensure that “policies and practices comply with the ESEA and Title IX and their implementing regulations.”
2. Ensure that “officials with authority to take corrective action are trained to recognize and respond to sexual misconduct.”
3. Ensure that “grievance procedures are not merely nominal, as investigations must be thorough, timely, and genuinely responsive to reported misconduct.”
Failure to comply with applicable federal laws can cause harm to students and may also subject schools to serious consequences, including the loss of federal funding. These risks underscore the importance of proactive compliance.
As schools prepare for the 2026-2027 school year, administrators should consider auditing policies, procedures, training practices, reporting protocols, and collective bargaining provisions related to sexual misconduct. Schools should also consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
