Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex in any federally funded education program, and most people know it through school sports and equal-funding disputes. That is a real and important part of Title IX, but it is far from the whole law. The same statute covers sexual harassment between students, disciplinary patterns that fall unevenly by sex, and specific, named protections for pregnant and parenting students that many students, and even some school staff, don't realize exist.
Sexual harassment is a Title IX issue with a specific process
Every school covered by Title IX must designate at least one Title IX Coordinator responsible for handling complaints of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment between students. This is meant to be a real, named person and a real process, not an informal conversation that goes nowhere. If a report of harassment isn't addressed, the failure to respond — separate from the original harassment — is itself something the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights can investigate.
Because Title IX regulations have been revised by the federal government more than once over the years, the exact procedural details schools must follow have shifted somewhat over time; the core requirement — that schools must respond meaningfully to reports of sex-based harassment — has stayed constant even as the specifics of the process have changed.
Discipline that falls unevenly by sex
Similar to the race-based discipline pattern covered in our Title VI article, a pattern where students of one sex are disciplined more often or more severely than students of another sex for comparable conduct can raise a Title IX question, even when the underlying rule is written in neutral language. Our article on dress codes covers one common version of this: enforcement that technically applies to everyone but falls overwhelmingly on girls or gender-nonconforming students in practice.
Pregnant and parenting students have specific, named rights
The Department of Education is explicit that Title IX protects pregnant and parenting students: they must be allowed to continue participating in classes and extracurricular activities, including honors classes, clubs, sports, and leadership roles, and cannot be forced into a separate program for pregnant students against their wishes. A school must excuse absences due to pregnancy or childbirth for as long as a doctor says is medically necessary, and must treat that time the same way it treats any other medical leave for the purpose of make-up work.
Harassment based on pregnancy or parenting status is itself covered by Title IX's harassment protections, the same as any other form of sex-based harassment, and a school's Title IX Coordinator is the right first point of contact if either the harassment or the accommodation isn't happening as it should.
Remember this
- Every school covered by Title IX must have a named Title IX Coordinator who handles sex-discrimination and harassment complaints.
- A discipline pattern that falls unevenly by sex can raise a Title IX issue, even under a neutral-sounding rule.
- Pregnant and parenting students must be allowed to keep participating in classes and activities, and get excused absences for medically necessary time.
- Harassment based on pregnancy or parenting status is covered the same as any other sex-based harassment under Title IX.
Sources
This article provides general educational information, not individualized legal advice. KidsKnowRights is not a law firm, and reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by state, age, and circumstances, and they change over time. For advice about a real situation, talk with a licensed attorney or a legal aid organization.