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Discrimination Prevention & Response and Title IX

Denver Public Schools strives to create learning and working environments that are truly affirming and inclusive. We do not condone or tolerate discrimination or harassment based on the following protected classes: race; color; creed; gender; sex; sexual orientation; gender identity or expression; transgender status; religion; national origin; immigration or citizenship status; ancestry; age; pregnancy, family composition, parenting, or marital status; veteran status; disability; or genetic information of employees or applicants for employment. We use two processes to address any such concerns: DPR (Discrimination Prevention & Response) and Title IX.

Our prohibition on discrimination and harassment extends to admission and employment. Through enforcement of the policy and regulations linked below, the District seeks to prevent and correct any discriminatory behavior, breaking historical patterns of inequity, not by accident, but by design.

What are examples of actions should I be concerned about?

If you witness or experience the following behaviors, you are encouraged to report your concerns. Click on the plus sign below for some examples of concerning behavior that we encourage you to tell us about. (These are examples, not an exhaustive list.)

Examples of Concerning Behavior

  • Hijab pulling, calling derogatory names such as terrorist or referencing involvement in 9-11, exclusion from or interruption of prayer time, refusal to acknowledge and/or making denigrating comments about holidays or other religious practices
  • Refusal to play or work with someone of a different race, use of racial slurs, committing repeated microaggressions and failing to correct the behavior, punching/hitting/kicking, verbal attacks, and/or ongoing teasing against another person because of protected class characteristics rooted in race (e.g. skin color, lightness or darkness of skin tone, facial features, style of dress or hair)
  • Refusal to learn and correctly use pronouns, deadnaming, asking questions or making statements about another’s genitalia (e.g. to determine their sex), denial of access to programming or facilities, including bathrooms, aligning with gender, use of derogatory slurs about sexual orientation or gender expression, targeted questions, taunts, or spreading rumors about same gender sexual/romantic interests or sexual activity, ongoing teasing about gender expression (e.g. wearing nail polish, dressing in skirts versus pants, styling hair a certain way), denying the existence of transgender identity
  • Deliberate use of and exposure to symbols typically associated with hatred and oppression, such as swastikas or nooses, targeted hate speech or threats
  • Taunting about not belonging or not being welcome, for example “Go back where you came from,” threats to deport or call ICE, ongoing teasing about a family’s language, fluency in communicating or understanding English, and/or cultural practices, for example food, dress, celebrations, family type and size
  • Repeated teasing about differences in ability, manipulating or taking advantage of someone due to disability, mocking behaviors like manner of speech and movement when rooted in disability, denying or limiting access such as refusing to allow students with disabilities to attend school field trips or counseling them out of extracurriculars, refusing to enroll students with disabilities, repeatedly questioning the validity of student’s disability, for example “ADHD is not real”

If I have a concern, what should I do?

If you are a student, parent, community member, or employee who needs to raise a concern of harassment or discrimination, please first contact the school or department where the conduct took place so we can address your concern at the site level immediately. Otherwise, parents and community members may contact the Office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) at 720-423-3054, or use the appropriate form below.

The forms below provide an opportunity for DPS community members to notify us of concerns that we need to address.

Designated DPS implementers who have already been trained should find their reporting forms for DPR and Title IX on The Commons.

DPR Complaint Form

File a DPR complaint form to alert us to a concern about harassment or discrimination based on a protected class.

Title IX Concern

File a Title IX Concern form to alert us to a concern about sexual harassment, including quid pro quo harassment, sexual assault, domestic or dating violence, or stalking. Complainants can use this form to request Supportive Measures and talk with a Title IX Coordinator about the option to file a formal Complaint.

Title IX Complaint

File a Title IX Complaint form if you have experienced sexual harassment, including quid pro quo harassment, sexual assault, domestic or dating violence or stalking, and you would like to initiate the formal grievance process to address the incident.

If you aren’t sure if you’d like to pursue the formal grievance process and would like to talk to a Title IX Coordinator about your options, including how to access Supportive Measures, you are welcome to use the Title IX Concern form instead.

Policies

Administration Policy AC is our nondiscrimination policy. It is the overarching policy that applies to students, employees, applicants for employment, and community members. Our notice of nondiscrimination can be found here

Our Discrimination Prevention and Response (DPR) process is fully outlined in Regulation AC-R1, which provides applicable definitions and the steps we take when we receive complaints alleging harassment or discrimination based on protected class, absent those that implicate Title IX and those related to reasonable accommodations and the provision of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

Concerns and Complaints that implicate Title IX of the Education Amendments are detailed in Regulation AC-R3, which includes definitions for sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment, and the process we follow when Title IX Concerns are reported, as well as when formal Complaints are filed.

Contact Us

Kristin Bailey

Discrimination Prevention and Response Coordinator
Title IX Coordinator

1860 Lincoln Street
Suite 1230
Denver, CO 80203

Email: kristin_bailey@dpsk12.org
Phone: 720-423-2355

Catherine Lhamon

U.S. Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-1100

Phone: 1-800-421-3481
Fax: 202-453-6012
TDD: 1-800-877-8339
Email: OCR@ed.gov

If you would like additional information on the implementation of Title IX or other key civil rights laws or to file a complaint, you may reach the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Department of Education.