**AN OCR UPDATE: THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS**

##### **May 27, 2021**

 

  In these first months of  the Biden-Harris Administration, all of us in the Office for Civil  Rights have focused steadily and urgently on ensuring equity and equal opportunity for  all students—in K-12 and higher education—throughout the country. I  want to take this moment to share some of the first steps  we’ve taken, as they help to set the foundation for the work  that lies ahead. 

**Ensuring Civil****-Rights Protections During School Reopening**   Perhaps no issue is more pressing in education today than  COVID-19 and its effects on students, families, and schools. Safeguarding civil rights and equal opportunity is central to our national  response, and OCR continues to receive and respond to  discrimination complaints from students and their parents and guardians.  In addition, OCR’s work includes:  

***Providing  Guidance on Civil Rights Issues Related to COVID-19.***** **In May, OCR published Questions and Answers on Civil Rights and School Reopening in  the COVID-19 Environment, a resource  to help students, families, schools and the public support all students’  rights in educational environments in K-12 and postsecondary institutions.   

***Ensuring  Collection of Critical Civil Rights Data During the Pandemic.*** We  know that data will be critical to  understanding the disparities in students’ opportunities  and experiences during the pandemic. In April, OCR updated all  school districts about the 2020-21 Civil Rights Data Collection, including  new assistance for schools operating remotely. I encourage you to explore the CRDC website if you’re  not already familiar with this remarkable data collection. 

***Examining  the Disparate Impacts of the Pandemic.*** OCR  is hard at work on a report on the pandemic’s disparate impacts on  students, responding to President Biden’s *Executive Order on**Supporting  the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education  Providers**.*We  look forward to sharing more on our findings soon. 

**Advancing Equity in  Educational Settings** 

Across the Department of  Education, we are working to build on and implement the President’s *Executive  Order on **Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved  Communities Through the Federal Government*. In OCR, equity is central to our  mission, including in these early steps:  

***Hosting a Virtual Convening to Examine  Disparities in School Discipline and the Pursuit of Safe and Inclusive Schools******.***In May, OCR and the Department of Justice’s Civil  Rights Division gathered students, educators and researchers for an  extensive public conversation on strategies for addressing racial and  other disparities in the administration of school discipline. Speakers  highlighted the impact of exclusionary school discipline, such as  suspensions and school-based arrests, on our nation’s students, particularly  students of color, students with disabilities and LGBTQI+ students. Check  back soon for video of the convening. 

***Providing resources on COVID-19-related Harassment in  School. ***Also in May, OCR and the Department of Justice  released a resource for students and families with information  on schools’ obligations to address  discrimination, including harassment, targeting students because of their  race or national origin. This resource is available in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Burmese, Hakha  Chin, Japanese, Karen, Khmer, Lao, and Thai. OCR also released a Dear Educator Letter reminding schools of their obligations to investigate and address all forms of harassment in educational environments, including harassment directed toward AAPI students. These efforts build on President Biden’s *Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance  Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States*. 

**Protecting  Students from Sex Discrimination** 

OCR’s action plan to fulfill President  Biden’s *Executive Order on* *Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from  Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or Gender  Identity* can be found in our early April letter to students, educators and other stakeholders. Next steps include: 

***Convening  a Virtual Public Hearing on Title IX: June 7-11, 2021. ***OCR  looks forward to a wide array of comments and suggestions on steps the  Department can take to ensure that all school environments are free  from sexual harassment, including sexual violence, and that students who have  experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity have  their rights fully met. Please  see our hearing notice and the hearing website for more information. 

***Forthcoming  Q&A.***In the coming months, OCR plans to issue  a Q&A resource to provide additional clarity about how OCR  interprets schools’ existing obligations under Title IX. 

***Anticipated  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. ***After hearing from the public  and completing review of the Department’s current Title IX regulations and  other agency actions, OCR anticipates giving public notice of a rulemaking  process to amend the Department’s Title IX regulations. 

***Addressing Discrimination against  Students Based on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation. ***OCR’s  upcoming public hearing on Title IX also responds  directly to President Biden’s *Executive Order *13988 *on **Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of  Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation*, which makes clear that “children should be able to  learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the  restroom, the locker room, or school sports.” More  to come soon on OCR’s other steps to protect all students, including LGBTQ+  students.

    * * *    Ensuring equal opportunity  for all students depends on all of us, and I thank you for your partnership in  these efforts as we work toward a shared future of equal opportunity  for all of America’s students. 

 

Suzanne B. Goldberg  Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil  Rights  Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations  and Outreach  Office for Civil RightsU.S. Department of Education