Who has the duty to report?
All DCPS employees are mandatory reporters. This includes District staff, school-based staff, support staff, food service employees, custodial staff, paraprofessionals, school clerks, vendors, volunteers, and sub-contractors, etc.
As mandatory reporters, DPCS employees are required to report all allegations and acts of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, to their Principal, Site Supervisor, School-Based Title IX Coordinator, and/or the District Title IX Coordinator.
When is there a duty?
Title IX regulations require schools with actual knowledge of sexual harassment to respond promptly in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent.
If the offending conduct involves offensive or discriminatory behaviors in a virtual setting, and the conduct is sex-based or gender-based, instructors must report the incident to the School-Based or District Title IX Coordinator.
If the alleged sexual harassment constitutes a crime, the matter must immediately be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency (e.g., Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and/or Duval County School Police Department).
As required by Florida law and DCPS School Board Policy 5.53 – Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect, all DCPS personnel who know, or have reasonable cause to suspect, that a child or student has been abused, abandoned, or neglected shall immediately report such knowledge or suspicion to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) by calling the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE (or 1-800-962-2873). This information may be found in § 39.201, Fla. Stat.
How to make a Title IX Report
A report can be made in person, by telephone, by mail, or by e-mail to the School-Based or District Title IX Coordinator, or by any other means that results in the Title IX Coordinator receiving the reporter’s verbal or written report.
Reports may be made at any time, including during non-business hours, twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week.
Oral reports should be transcribed into written form.
Allegations of sexual harassment against an Administrator may be reported directly to the District Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equity & Inclusion / Professional Standards at (904) 390-2181 or (904) 390-2054.