Page:Dear Colleague Letter - Sexual Violence.pdf/13

Page 13 — Dear Colleague Letter: Sexual Violence occurred in a classroom during school hours with a single complainant.


 * (D) 

Both parties must be notified, in writing, about the outcome of both the complaint and any appeal, i.e., whether harassment was found to have occurred. OCR recommends that schools provide the written determination of the final outcome to the complainant and the alleged perpetrator concurrently. Title IX does not require the school to notify the alleged perpetrator of the outcome before it notifies the complainant.

Due to the intersection of Title IX and FERPA requirements, OCR recognizes that there may be confusion regarding what information a school may disclose to the complainant. FERPA generally prohibits the nonconsensual disclosure of personally identifiable information from a student's "education record." However, as stated in the 2001 Guidance, FERPA permits a school to disclose to the harassed student information about the sanction imposed upon a student who was found to have engaged in harassment when the sanction directly relates to the harassed student. This includes an order that the harasser stay away from the harassed student, or that the harasser is prohibited from attending school for a period of time, or transferred to other classes or another residence hall. Disclosure of other information in the student's "education record," including information about sanctions that do not relate to the harassed student, may result in a violation of FERPA.

Further, when the conduct involves a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense, FERPA permits a postsecondary institution to disclose to the alleged victim the final results of a