The letter reminds schools of their legal obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and its implementing regulations to provide all students with a school environment free from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.
The district’s responses to repeated harassment of Black, Asian, and Jewish students and to harassment based on sex did not meet the district’s federal civil rights obligations.
The district must audit its harassment procedures and annually train its staff after a student was repeatedly targeted for being Jewish.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina, Alpine SD in Utah, and Allegheny Valley SD were all being investigated by OCR for a variety of violations.
A 2022 investigation by Forbes found Florida A&M received $2,600 less per student than the University of Florida in 2020.
The school admitted that the allegations, which were made by a student, were not the first accusations of inappropriate behavior against the professor.
A needless tug of war could be developing with school police on one side and mental health professionals, social services advocates and civil rights activists on the other.
The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has reached an agreement with the Christian County Public Schools in Kentucky to improve the district’s disciplinary system so that all students will receive equitable treatment.
