Cite as: 526 U. S. 629 (1999)
Kennedy, J., dissenting
and juries to second-guess school administrators in every case, to judge in each instance whether the school's response was "clearly unreasonable." A reasonableness standard, regardless of the modifier, transforms every disciplinary decision into a jury question. Cf. Doe v. University of Illinois, 138 F. 3d 653, 655 (CA7 1998) (holding that college student had stated a Title IX claim for peer sexual harassment even though school officials had suspended two male students for 10 days and transferred another out of her biology class).
Another professed limitation the majority relies upon is that the recipient will be liable only where the acts of student harassment are "known." See, e. g., ante, at 644, 647. The majority's enunciation of the standard begs the obvious question: known to whom? Yet the majority says not one word about the type of school employee who must know about the harassment before it is actionable.
The majority's silence is telling. The deliberate indifference liability we recognized in Gebser was predicated on notice to "an official of the recipient entity with authority to take corrective action to end the discrimination." 524 U. S., at 290. The majority gives no indication that it believes the standard to be any different in this context and—given its extensive reliance on the Gebser standard throughout the opinion—appears to adopt the Gebser notice standard by implication. At least the courts adjudicating Title IX peer harassment claims are likely to so conclude.
By choosing not to adopt the standard in explicit terms, the majority avoids having to confront the bizarre implications of its decision. In the context of teacher harassment, the Gebser notice standard imposes some limit on school liability. Where peer harassment is the discrimination, however, it imposes no limitation at all. In most cases of student misbehavior, it is the teacher who has authority, at least in the first instance, to punish the student and take other measures to remedy the harassment. The anomalous result will be that, while a school district cannot be held liable for
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