Texas school's handling of bullying case highlights Title IX challenges
HUTTO, Texas (KXAN) – Briannon O’Neil pleaded over voicemail to the district’s transportation department for an update on her son’s case. It had been more than a month since she called to report her 8-year-old was touched inappropriately by another kid on a Hutto Independent School District bus one day in late February.
Email records obtained through public information requests and provided by O'Neil.
The day O’Neil made the report, the district’s bus ride safety coordinator assured her over the phone she would be contacted by an employee who handles Title IX – a federal law requiring schools to respond promptly to sexual assault and harassment claims.
Email records show the employee called the Title IX coordinator that same day about the allegations and surveillance video she said she found of the incident.
Email records obtained through public information requests and provided by O'Neil.
Records show O’Neil did not hear from the Title IX coordinator until more than a month after her report. By then, O’Neil said her son had already experienced more bullying on and off the bus.
The district later found that while the transportation department rearranged the bus seating, the school had not yet initiated a bullying investigation or provided her son with any counseling.
“[I’m] very mad and very sad for my son,” O’Neil said. “What they didn’t do is 100% on them.”
O’Neil filed a formal complaint against the Title IX coordinator, a move the district said resulted in change. However, advocates say what happened in O’Neil’s case underscores issues nationwide in K-12 schools.
“Title IX is a federal regulation. It doesn't come with any funds. So, what that means is, in each state, K-12 school districts have to figure out for themselves how they are going to implement this,” Stop Sexual Assault in Schools Board Chair Heidi Goldstein said.
The non-profit's mission is to educate K-12 students, families and schools about sexual harassment and their rights under Title IX.
“I think, generally, smaller school districts have more trouble sort of massing what they need in terms of the investment and in terms of people who are knowledgeable to really handle this,” Goldstein added.
O’Neil’s Title IX complaint
In her complaint, O’Neil told the district the Title IX coordinator failed to provide information and options for her son, which she said allowed for more bullying. She asked the district to remove the coordinator from that role.
Following an investigation, the district agreed in multiple letters to O’Neil — including one from the then-interim superintendent, Dr. Cara Malone — that the office did not act promptly to contact her to discuss supportive measures or explain the process for filing a formal complaint, according to a review of dozens of school records O'Neil provided.
Dr. Malone told O’Neil that, because of her concerns about the district’s response, "changes are already being made to avoid similar missteps in the coming school year." The district, citing confidentiality, would not tell O’Neil if the Title IX coordinator had been removed.
The district later provided records to KXAN showing a new person had taken over the role.
Dr. Malone and other district officials declined to be interviewed for this report. However, they said in a statement, “While all Title IX concerns are thoroughly investigated, some reports may not meet the specific criteria or rise to the level of a Title IX violation as defined by federal regulations.”
“They need to have better protocols. They need to have better training,” O’Neil said.
Title IX training in Texas
In her letter to O'Neil, then-interim superintendent Dr. Malone promised that all administrators would receive additional Title IX training by October. The letter also revealed questions circulating across the state about Title IX training amid a legal fight between the Texas Attorney General and the Biden administration.
In July 2024, Dr. Malone told O’Neil, “Because of pending litigation involving implementation of the 2024 Title IX regulations in Texas, Title IX training available from the state’s Regional Education Service Centers has been paused statewide.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in federal court in April attempting to block federal rule changes that would have required schools and universities to be responsible for investigating discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. A judge blocked the rule from taking effect in Texas in June.
Texas Education Agency officials told KXAN Title IX training was not officially paused, but “due to the timing of Summer Title IX training and continued questions on what regulations would be in effect given pending legal action, some (Education Service Centers) made the decision to postpone or not hold regularly scheduled trainings.”
Region 13, the education service center for Hutto ISD, postponed its scheduled Title IX training for districts that would have covered the new 2024 regulations in July, according to Region 13 officials. The region’s leadership said it notified districts and gave them contact information for the trainers, but it has not provided Title IX training since.
In the letter to O’Neil, Dr. Malone said that Hutto ISD would seek training from a private provider. District records obtained through a public information request show the district documented nine Title IX trainings since promising the O’Neil family additional training would take place, including one course in child abuse mandatory reporting and another in Title IX Laws and Requirements.
KXAN contacted every education service center in the state to ask whether they paused training because of the state’s federal lawsuit over Title IX. Regions 1 and 5, which cover the Edinburg and Beaumont areas, both said they don’t provide that specific training; instead, districts rely on legal counsel, associations and attorneys for training.
ESC 11 said it plans to hold annual Title IX training in May, and regions 3, 9 and 18 said they did not postpone training.
Homebound
Records show that a month after her complaint, the district put in a no-contact agreement between O’Neil’s son and the student he said touched him inappropriately, and a month later, the district initiated a bullying investigation. The district also agreed to reimburse the O'Neil family for the therapy he began after the incident.
But O’Neil said she continued to struggle to get her son comfortable with going back to school. She asked the district if he could be enrolled in homebound -- a program requiring a teacher to provide instruction at the student's home -- but ultimately, the district said he did not qualify.
“He's gone for eight hours plus a day at school. He doesn't feel he has a trusted adult in case something happens, and that's his biggest fear,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil’s son no longer attends the Hutto ISD school and is unenrolled from the district. His parents are now paying for an online homeschool program.
“They need to have better training because if and when it happens to another student, I don’t want any other mom or parent to have to see the disappointment, sadness and fear in their kids’ eyes for months,” O’Neil said.