U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon issued the following statement today after the Fall 2021 Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan, published today, showed that the Department anticipates issuing the Title IX notice of proposed rulemaking by April 2022, a month earlier than the May 2022 date listed in the Spring 2021 Unified Agenda:

"The Department is deeply committed to ensuring that schools are providing students with educational environments free from discrimination in the form of sexual harassment; to ensuring that schools have grievance procedures that provide for the fair, prompt, and equitable resolution of reports of sexual harassment and other sex discrimination; and to addressing discrimination based on sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, in educational environments. In line with those commitments, the Department has expressed its intent to propose amendments to its regulations implementing Title IX to address these issues. The Fall 2021 Unified Agenda and Regulatory Plan, published on December 10, 2021, states that the Department anticipates issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking by April 2022, a month earlier than the May 2022 date in the Spring 2021 Unified Agenda. Today's step reflects the Department's commitment to work as speedily as possible toward appropriate and effective regulation in recognition of the importance of ensuring equal access to education for all students and addressing the threat to equal access posed by all forms of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment."