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McGrath Response
System™
A comprehensive system for addressing bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct or abuse in schools.
Do your Title IX investigators and decision makers feel anxious about being able to conduct a thorough investigation from rumor through potential appeal?
Are you worried that your district is exposed to liability because you may not be meeting all the requirements - federal, state and local?
Are your staff overburdened trying to navigate complex compliance requirements for harassment, bullying, and discrimination? Are they juggling different response systems for each?
Do your fear that your students aren't getting the support and resources they need, including the 'age appropriate' training your local policy requires?
Most school administrators desperately want to prevent harmful behaviors like bullying, sexual harassment, and other discrimination from happening in their schools but are unaware or perhaps overwhelmed by the sheer responsibility and legal requirements.
Navigating the complex and ever-changing compliance landscape can be hard. Also, most administrators were trained to be educators – not investigators. They often focus their efforts on prevention and feel less confident in their understanding of what to do from a legal or compliance perspective.
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Let our team at McGrath help make prevention and response as simple and effective as possible.
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We created the McGrath Response System™ to help school administrators get the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to rest easy at night. We provide a single response system that combines the laws on bullying, sexual harassment, misconduct, and discrimination so your staff are not managing multiple approaches.
What is the
McGrath Response System™?
The McGrath Response System™ is a system-wide approach for creating a culture of prevention and response and ensuring compliance with your district’s policies, state laws, and federal regulations, including Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX. 


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It thoroughly addresses bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct with a single, easy-to-follow framework and set of tools. It covers student-to-student, student-to-staff, staff-to-student, and staff-to-staff issues and ensures your school or district is complying with the 2020 Title IX Final Rule.
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Within the McGrath Response System™, several courses and awareness trainings work together to create a culture of ‘see something, say something.’ Administrators can’t be everywhere, so it’s important to make sure that all students, staff, and parents know how to report and who to report to.
McGrath Response System™ Courses
Intake & Investigations - Foundations Course
(2 days, in-person or online)
Our most popular course
Ensure that your complaint managers, investigators, Title IX coordinators, and decision-makers are compliant with federal regulations, state laws, and your own local policies and know how to respond to concerns and complaints appropriately. Participants leave confident that they know what is required of them and how to fulfill their responsibilities.
Designed for: Administrators, Complaint Managers, Human Resource Directors, Investigators, Title IX Coordinators, Decision-Makers and Risk Managers
We offer a number of flexible courses for bringing McGrath Response System™ to your district or organization.
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Select the courses that work for your district's priorities and budget. Alternatively, you can accelerate your school or district’s adoption by rolling out all the trainings within the McGrath Response System™ in a single, stream-lined effort. The trainings for students, staff and administrators work together to reinforce and amplify the impact of one another.
Staff Awareness and Response Training (90 min)
Ensure that employees know how to recognize harassment, misconduct, discrimination and bullying and how to respond appropriately.
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*Complies with 2020 Title IX Final Rule requiring a minimum of 50% of staff be trained each year.
Designed for: All school employees, including Staff, Teachers, Coaches, Bus Drivers, etc
Student Awareness and Response Training
Comply with local policies and ensure your K-12 students receive age-appropriate training for how to recognize sexual harassment, misconduct, discrimination and bullying and how to respond appropriately.
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Includes easy administration and a comprehensive audit trail.
Designed for: K-12 students
Instructor Certification Course (3 days)
A train-the-trainer program that certifies a local instructor to conduct in-house training and followups for your district's administrators, supervisors, teachers and staff for the following McGrath Response System™ courses:
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Intake & Investigation - Foundations Course (2 day)
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Staff Awareness and Response Training (90 min)
Designed for: Experienced trainers with experience as Administrators, Complaint Managers, Human Resource Directors, School Counselors, and Risk Managers
Upcoming Training
We offer trainings across the US and Canada. Join one of our upcoming courses or contact us to schedule a training near you.
Our comprehensive McGrath Response System™ addresses:
Title VII
Sexual harassment in employment
Title IX
Discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct in education
Title VI
Discrimination based on race, color and national origin
Intake and investigation of bullying concerns
Ensure compliance with ever-changing federal regulations and state laws
Complies with 2024 Title IX
Final Rule
We’ll be by your side helping roll out a system that sticks
Meeting Title IX Requirements
Title IX Regulations require 8-hours of training for your designated leaders and awareness training for your school employees. Our updated and expanded compliance programs are fully compliant with Title IX New Rule regulations and can be offered virtually with course analytics to track course completion. We provide a system approach with forms for responding to concerns and complaints and customize the trainings to your district (including a welcome message and incorporating your policies/procedures/Title IX contact info). The system-wide model aims to shift the culture around sexual harassment and misconduct and encourage reporting.
Risks of Noncompliance
Sadly, incidents of bullying, discrimination sexual harassment, and misconduct occur every day in schools across our country. Failing to proactively prevent and respond sends negative ripple effects far beyond the individuals directly involved, and can even lead to multi-million dollar lawsuits.
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The risks to a school district of not being compliant with Title IX include:
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Harm to student well-being and morale;
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Potential legal consequences, such as investigations, lawsuits, and financial penalties;
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Damage to the district’s reputation and community trust;
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Disruption to education and diversion of resources; and,
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Long-term impacts on the district’s educational mission and goals.
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Federal Title IX regulations have “the force of law” behind them and school districts that fail to comply can lose the funding they receive from the federal government. The Department of Education also conducts compliance reviews of how K-12 schools and districts handle cases of sexual assault. These consequences are in addition to the millions of dollars in civil claims that school districts may pay out for non-compliance if an incident happens on their watch.
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Let us help you take steps to prevent these incidents and be ready to investigate them effectively if they do happen.
What’s Different About the McGrath Response System™?
While programs like the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, PBIS, and others prioritize prevention and intervention in various aspects of child safety and well-being, there remains a crucial gap in addressing the essential skills of interviewing, investigating, and documenting incidents. This is precisely where the McGrath Response System™ steps in to provide you with the skills and know-how you need.
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Often, administrators have never been properly trained how to be investigators – yet, they are required by their policy to do so. A robust and responsive investigative process is vital for encouraging members of your community to report incidents they witness or experience. Without it, individuals may be reluctant to come forward, potentially allowing harmful behaviors to persist unchecked.