The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights last week launched investigations into 20 school districts nationwide for staff sexual misconduct allegations. San Antonio’s North East Independent School District is the only Texas public school district among the 20.
The data suggested the districts may be improperly addressing staff sexual misconduct toward students, Department of Education officials wrote in a statement.
U.S. Department of Education officials did not immediately respond to questions about why North East ISD was included in the investigation. District spokesperson Aubrey Chancellor said NEISD officials are not sure why the district was selected for the national probe.
North East ISD was recently notified of the review, Chancellor said, adding that the district will provide information requested by the federal agency.
“NEISD takes any allegations regarding staff sexual misconduct very seriously,” she said. “All allegations are thoroughly investigated and we take all appropriate and required actions to protect students.”
North East ISD data from the 2023-24 school year was not publicly available on the Office for Civil Rights’ website as of Wednesday afternoon. Data from the 2020-21 school year — the most recent available — showed the district reported zero instances of students being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex.
The newly announced federal investigations will determine whether the districts have the proper procedures in place to accurately report sexual harassment and assault allegations and ensure accurate data collection. Federal officials will also examine whether local district policies comply with federal law.
Along with the announcement of the 20 investigations, the Department of Education issued guidance reminding districts on Friday to respond promptly to sexual harassment allegations from educators or students and to prevent “credibly accused” employees from finding employment in other districts or internally in different roles.
Districts must accurately collect and report data to the civil rights office and conduct their own investigations into sexual misconduct allegations — on top of those carried out by law enforcement, education department officials said in the announcement.
“Districts that inaccurately report—or report zero incidents of rape or sexual assault despite evidence suggesting otherwise—may face OCR enforcement,” the Department of Education said in the statement, threatening to remove funding from school systems that fail to comply with federal law.