Justice Department Secures Agreement With Wyoming School District to Address Discrimination Based on Sex and Disability

The Justice Department announced a settlement agreement with Teton County School District #1 in Wyoming to resolve the department’s investigation into alleged peer harassment based on sex and disability and retaliation. The department conducted its investigation under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 

The department’s investigation focused on the school district’s response to students’ complaints of sexual harassment and to reports of a broader school climate in which female students were subjected to sexualized insults and derogatory comments in the hallways, in classes and on social media. The agreement will address the district’s ineffective responses to such complaints, which left female students vulnerable to continued harassment by their peers, including retaliatory harassment for reporting discrimination. The agreement also will address the district’s response to peer harassment based on disability and improve the district’s policies and training on how to identify and support students who exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, self-harm or suicidality resulting from harassment.

“Young women and girls should feel safe to learn in schools and not forced to endure a sexually hostile environment,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Civil Rights Division. “It is vital that schools respond swiftly and effectively to reports of harassment and that they recognize and support students who show signs of trauma or have trauma-related disabilities. The reforms required by our settlement agreement will help to create meaningful change and a safer learning environment for all students across the district. The Justice Department is committed to holding all schools accountable to their obligation to provide every student an educational environment free from discrimination.”

The district cooperated fully with the department’s investigation and took proactive steps to begin revising and strengthening its anti-harassment policies and its multi-tiered support systems to help ensure that students who experience discrimination receive the proper services. Under the agreement, the district will build on these efforts by working with a consultant to review and revise its policies and practices, respond appropriately to every discrimination complaint and adopt appropriate supportive and remedial measures. The district also will, among other things:

• Make reasonable modifications to relevant policies, practices and procedures to support students who exhibit signs of trauma;

• Prohibit and take reasonable steps to prevent retaliation;

• Implement school climate assessments and an engagement plan;

• Train its civil rights coordinator and other staff on their obligations under the district’s antidiscrimination policies and complaint resolution procedures; and

• Institute internal monitoring and auditing procedures to ensure compliance and regularly evaluate the overall success of the district’s antidiscrimination program.

Protecting students from harassment and other discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crt, and additional information about the work of the Educational Opportunities Section is available at www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section.

Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at www.civilrights.justice.gov/report.