NHCS Title XI committee meets to discuss district policies after President Trump recent executive order

"The more work we do and the more visible we are, the less likely that perpetrators will come out of the woodwork."

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY)–With President Trump’s recent executive orders on Title XI, the New Hanover County School’s Title XI committee met tonight to discuss how the order will impact New Hanover County schools.
The Title XI committee members had a roundtable discussion to talk about sexual assault complaints in the school and what Title XI covers. The sexual assault survey of students in the district revealed that girls — and gay and lesbian students — were more likely to be harassed than others.
More than 400 complaints were made to the Title XI office since August, but only 78 of those complaints were related to Title XI.
Doctor Tim Merrick is a part of the committee. He says that although the numbers are low, one case is too many.
The committee has not gathered for a year, and Merrick feels these meetings should be more frequently because it’s important to keep parents and the public informed.

“We owe it to the public to let them know that we are watching out, we are paying attention, and we’re going to do whatever is necessary to make sure these kids get the right treatment,” Merrick shared. “The more work we do and the more visible we are, the less likely that perpetrators will come out of the woodwork.”

John Henry with the Title XI office says recent Title XI policies outlined in President Trump’s executive order are not in place. For now, the district is following standards put in place during the first Trump administration in 2020.
That policy states that any sexual assault, including harassment, dating violence, and stalking, is not tolerated. However, Henry foresees changes to the district’s policies coming in the future.
Right now, he says the department is steadily encouraging parents, students, and staff to report any misconduct and believes the reporting system is going well.

“We have a lot of policies that govern a lot of the misconduct. Even if it’s not a Title XI thing, there are policies out there for harassing behavior, bullying, disruptive- so there’s a lot of policies governing student’s behavior,” Henry shared.

The next Title XI Committee meeting will be on March 10th.