Mesa Public Schools is committed to providing students and employees an environment free of sexual violence, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct or communication constituting sexual harassment as prohibited by State and federal law. Governing Board Policy ACA prohibits sexual harassment and discrimination by a staff member to a student, a staff member to another staff member, or a student to another student in any program or activity, which means all academic, educational, extracurricular, athletic, or other programs.

If you are a district employee and have witnessed, heard about or received written information that sexual harassment has occurred at school or school-sponsored event, please complete the Actual Knowledge Report.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including gender-based and sexual harassment and discrimination, in the District's educational programs and activities, including employment. The District is committed to maintaining an educational and working environment free from sex discrimination and harassment.  Any student or employee who believes they have been subjected to discrimination on the basis of sex, or anyone who has witnessed or otherwise learned that sexual harassment has or may have occurred in a program or activity of the District, whether by students or by District employees, is encouraged to follow the procedures outlined on this site.

If you have experienced or witnessed an act of sexual harassment, discrimination, or dating/partner violence, you are encouraged to report the incident to the District’s Title IX Coordinator or by submitting the complaint form.

For Immediate Assistance:  If you are in an emergency situation, make sure you are in a safe place and call 911. For non-emergencies, contact the MPS Title IX Coordinator, the Department of Public Safety, or local law enforcement.

The 2020 Title IX regulations define sexual harassment broadly to include any of three types of misconduct that, on the basis of sex, jeopardize an individual’s equal access to education and the educational programs and activities that Title IX is designed to protect. These three types of misconduct are:

1.  Any instance of quid pro quo harassment by a school employee;

2. Any unwelcome conduct that a reasonable person would find so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person equal educational access;

3.  Any instance of sexual assault as defined in the Clery Act, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking as defined in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).