The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a reminder for K-12 school districts: when an employee accused of sexual misconduct resigns, the district’s Title IX responsibilities do not simply disappear.

On September 17, 2026, OCR announced a resolution agreement with Virginia Beach City Public Schools. OCR had found that the district violated Title IX by failing to adequately investigate and document reports of sexual misconduct involving students. The district’s records for the 2017-18 through 2019-20 school years show approximately:

• 117 incidents of sexual harassment;
• 88 incidents of indecent exposure by a student;
• Eight incidents involving inappropriate touching by an employee or sexual intercourse between an employee and a student; and
• One incident of forcible rape.

Over those three years, the district could produce only 12 investigation reports. OCR found that the district handled these reports only as school-level disciplinary matters, with no grievance process and no notice of outcomes to either party. When an employee accused of sexual misconduct resigned, the district stopped investigating the complaint against that employee altogether. Read OCR’s announcement.

The Resignation Question

The resolution agreement contains seven commitments, and the last one deserves the closest read:

“Ensure it responds to all reports or complaints of alleged sexual harassment, including employee-on-student harassment, in a manner consistent with Title IX, even if the accused employee resigns.”

At first glance, that requirement may appear to conflict with the 2020 Title IX regulations. Under 34 C.F.R. § 106.45(b)(3)(ii), a recipient may dismiss a formal complaint when the respondent is no longer enrolled in or employed by the institution. But “may dismiss” is not the same as “must dismiss.” The regulation gives institutions discretion but does not make resignation an automatic off-ramp from Title IX.

Even when dismissal of the formal grievance process is appropriate, the institution must still consider its broader response obligations. Under the 2020 regulations, a recipient must respond to actual knowledge of sexual harassment in a manner that is not deliberately indifferent, and this obligation applies “with or without a formal complaint.” The regulations also require documentation of the institution’s response, including supportive measures and the basis for concluding that its actions were not clearly unreasonable. See 34 C.F.R. §§ 106.44 and 106.45 in the 2020 regulations.

In other words, the respondent’s departure may affect what process remains possible and whether discipline can be imposed, but the district still owes a response to the student who reported and to the broader school community. We outline what that response should include at the end of this Takeaway.

How Virginia Beach Connects to the July Initiative

On July 10, 2026, the ED launched a national K-12 initiative on adult sexual misconduct in schools, and OCR opened 20 directed investigations into school districts whose Civil Rights Data Collection submissions suggested inadequate responses to staff-on-student misconduct. The Dear Colleague Letter issued alongside the initiative tells districts to investigate misconduct independently instead of relying on a law enforcement referral. It also connects these duties to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s prohibition on helping an employee obtain a new position when there is knowledge or probable cause to believe the employee engaged in sexual misconduct with a student, a practice commonly called “passing the trash.” We wrote about this previously.

Tuesday Takeaways

We understand why a resignation feels like a natural stopping point. With the employee gone, the immediate risk in that building may seem resolved, and the district may have no discipline left to impose. But the student who made the report is still in the school, and so are any other students the employee may have affected.

We recommend that school districts retire any policy or practice that closes a matter automatically when an accused employee resigns. The Title IX Coordinator should instead complete and document an individualized assessment of what the district still owes the student and the school community. That assessment should address each of the following:

1. Whether the formal Title IX grievance process will continue or be dismissed, and the documented reason for that decision
2. The supportive measures the affected student needs and who will coordinate them
3. Whether other students may have been affected, or whether the allegations point to a broader pattern or continuing safety concern
4. Which evidence and records the district must preserve
5. Mandatory reporting and law-enforcement obligations
6. How the district will prevent recurrence, remedy continuing effects, and respond to future employment inquiries about the former employee

A resignation can narrow the process a district has left to run. The duty to the student who came forward stays in the building after the employee walks out the door.

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If an accused employee resigns, the Title IX file leaves with them, right? A new OCR resolution agreement with Virginia Beach City Public Schools answers this question.