While many associate Title IX only with college athletics, it also prohibits sexual harassment and sexual assault on any school campuses that receive federal funding. Prior to 2020, guidance on how the federal government required local education agencies to comply with Title IX was mostly limited to unofficial publications called “Dear Colleague Letters,” which were non-binding.

Significant binding guidance in California began to be issued by the courts. In the mid-2000s, California saw significant litigation regarding Title IX implementation, but it was primarily limited to college campuses. This new body of law was largely driven by accused individuals found responsible for Title IX violations challenging the finding against them and the resulting disciplinary action. The court decisions in these cases focused on ensuring that both the accuser and the accused were treated fairly in these cases. They criticized colleges that did not make their investigation processes clear and formal enough. The courts also scrutinized giving a single individual the power to both investigate and to make a final decision, and procedures that did not provide the parties with a transparent understanding of the evidence and an opportunity to directly respond to the evidence against their position. 

For California K-12 school districts, this period meant following model policies focused on California Education Code and Government Code compliance, without significant consideration of federal Title IX overlays. The guidance the courts were providing colleges was largely seen as inapplicable to K-12 districts.