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2024 Federal Title IX Regulations (invalidated on January 9, 2025): Information and Resources for Schools

(Last updated July 8, 2025)

IMPORTANT:  A January 9, 2025, decision from a federal district court in Kentucky invalidated and “vacated” the 2024 Title IX regulations in their entirety on a nationwide basis.  The U.S. Department of Education did not appeal the decision.

Unless there are further legal developments, it appears to be the case that the 2024 regulations are no longer effective in any jurisdiction.  The court decision vacating the 2024 regulatory amendments also appears to mean that the operative Title IX regulations for all Wisconsin school districts are (once again) the Title IX regulations that were last amended in 2020 (effective 8/14/2020).

Click here to access the WASB resource page that covers the 2020 Title IX regulations.

 

January 9, 2025, Federal Court Ruling Vacating the 2024 Title IX Regulations (updated 7/8/25)

On January 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a decision ordering what is called “vacatur” of the 2024 Title IX regulations in their entirety. See State of Tennessee v. Cardona, Case No. 2: 24-072-DCR (E.D. Ky. Jan. 9, 2025). According to the court’s decision, “Vacatur operates on the rule itself and prevents the rule’s ‘application to all who would otherwise be subject to its operation.’” Id. at 13 (quoting other cases).  Assuming this decision becomes final and is not modified, stayed, or appealed, it appears that the decision would vacate the 2024 Title IX regulations on a nationwide basis, including in Wisconsin. If that is the result, school districts’ substantive legal obligations under Title IX as well as school districts’ Title IX policies, grievance/complaint procedures, and training obligations would all be significantly affected.

The following statement addressing the Title IX regulations appears on a DOE web page that was updated on January 31, 2025:  “On January 9, 2025, a federal district court issued a decision vacating the 2024 Final Rule. Consistent with the court’s order, the 2024 Title IX regulations and [some related resources that had been posted on the web page] are not effective in any jurisdiction.”  That initial statement from the DOE appeared to signal the DOE’s capitulation to the court ruling, and it left only somewhat unlikely possibilities under which the 2024 regulations could possibly be revived. This initial analysis was essentially confirmed in a January 31, 2025, press release and a February 4, 2025, “Dear Colleague” letter, issued under the second Trump administration, advising educators and administrators that the Department’s Office for Civil Rights will enforce the 2020 Title IX Final Rule. The “Dear Colleague” letter further advises, “Accordingly, open Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 Title IX Rule should be immediately reevaluated to ensure consistency with the requirements of the 2020 Title IX Rule and the preexisting regulations at 34 C.F.R. 106 et seq.”

Due to the foregoing, school district officials should contact their district’s chosen legal counsel to help them determine (1) if, when, and how the school district should amend its local Title IX policies and procedures; (2) how the school district should process any pending or newly-received Title IX complaints; (3) which substantive interpretations of Title IX the district should implement in its operational practices; and (4) which staff training mandates the school district should be implementing. Depending on those decisions, legal counsel can further advise the school district on other aspects of the district’s near-term approach to Title IX compliance. In determining a course of action with respect to both policy language and policy implementation, all Wisconsin schools need to consider (1) the effect of state nondiscrimination laws in Wisconsin, and (2) the Title IX rulings of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which directly interpreted the Title IX statutes and which generally were not dependent on the specific language of either the 2020 regulations or the 2024 regulations. See A.C. v. Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, 75 F.4th 760 (7th Cir. 2023); Whitaker ex rel. Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District No. 1 Board of Education, 858 F.3d 1034 (7th Cir. 2017).

 

For a broad summary of some of the key changes that had been introduced by the now-invalidated 2024 Title IX regulations, see the April 2024 issue of the WASB’s “Policy Perspectives” newsletter.

The following are some of the initial resources that accompanied the announcement of the 2024 Final Rule:

IMPORTANT:  As of January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education web page where the following resources are linked sates, “On January 9, 2025, a federal district court issued a decision vacating the 2024 Final Rule. Consistent with the court’s order, the 2024 Title IX regulations and these resources are not effective in any jurisdiction.”

    • The now-invalidated 2024 Final Rule, as it was published in the Federal Register.
      Caution! The PDF file that contains the final regulations is over 400 pages long, although most of the content consists of commentary and guidance that accompanies the final regulations. The actual 2024 amendments to the regulations can be found in this this excerpt, which represents pages 33882 through 33896 of the PDF document (as the pages are numbered within the Federal Register).
    • The complete Title IX regulations, as amended on August 1, 2024: 34 C.F.R. Part 106 (August 1, 2024)
    • A U.S. Department of Education summary of the major provisions of the now-invalidated 2024 final regulations.
    • A U.S. Department of Education Fact Sheet, which presents a broad overview of the Final Rule (no longer available on the Department’s web site).
    • A U.S. Department of Education resource to assist with drafting the Title IX nondiscrimination policies, notices of nondiscrimination, and grievance procedures that will be needed to comply with the final regulations (no longer available on the Department’s web site).

Following the release of the 2024 Final Rule and the supplemental resources listed above, the U.S. Department of Education issued the following guidance documents for districts and schools that were implementing the 2024 regulations:

IMPORTANT:  As of January 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education web page where the following resources are linked sates, “On January 9, 2025, a federal district court issued a decision vacating the 2024 Final Rule. Consistent with the court’s order, the 2024 Title IX regulations and these resources are not effective in any jurisdiction.”

NOTICE: This resource page presents information and commentary to facilitate a general understanding of the topics that are addressed, but it does not present an exhaustive or complete treatment of any legal or policy issues. The information that is provided does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon or used as legal advice. The WASB will periodically update this web page with additional general information and resources related to the Title IX regulations.

Looking for information about the 2020 Title IX regulations?

Go to the WASB resource page for the 2020 Title IX Regulations 

 

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