Bedford Public Schools Title IX Policy and Documents

The Bedford Public School District is committed to maintaining a school environment that values civil discourse and diversity where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect.

Title IX Compliance Coordinators:	Name:	Phone:
Coordinator of TItle VI and Title IX	Tricia Clifford, Ed.D, Assistant Superintendent	(781) 918-4702
Coordiantor of Section 504 for Students	Marianne Vines, Director of Special Education	(781) 918-4716
Coordinator of Section 504 for Employment	Gillian Chartier, Director of Human Resources	(781) 918-4719

Title IX

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces, among other statutes, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title IX states that:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Scope of Title IX

Title IX applies to institutions that receive federal financial assistance from ED, including state and local educational agencies. These agencies include approximately 16,500 local school districts, 7,000 postsecondary institutions, as well as charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, and museums. Also included are vocational rehabilitation agencies and education agencies of 50 states, the District of Columbia, and territories and possessions of the United States.

Educational programs and activities that receive ED funds must operate in a nondiscriminatory manner. Some key issue areas in which recipients have Title IX obligations are: recruitment, admissions, and counseling; financial assistance; athletics; sex-based harassment; treatment of pregnant and parenting students; discipline; single-sex education; and employment. Also, a recipient may not retaliate against any person for opposing an unlawful educational practice or policy, or made charges, testified or participated in any complaint action under Title IX. For a recipient to retaliate in any way is considered a violation of Title IX. The ED Title IX regulations (Volume 34, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 106) provide additional information about the forms of discrimination prohibited by Title IX.

For more information please visit The U.S. Department of Education - Office of Civil Rights and the Mass. Department of Elementary & Secondary Education.