https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2021/11/17/feds-open-civil-rights-investigation-into-southlake-carroll-schools-nbc-reports/
The U.S. Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into allegations of discrimination in Southlake schools, district and federal officials confirmed.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights last week informed the Carroll school district -- which has been at the center of an ongoing firestorm on how to handle diversity and inclusion -- that it opened three investigations.
NBC News first reported the news of a federal probe.
An education department spokeswoman confirmed that the investigation is looking into “allegations related to discrimination based on race, color, national origin, or sex.”
Karen Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Carroll ISD, wrote in a statement that the district is “fully cooperating with this process and diligently pulling all documents requested.“
She declined to share more information on the specifics of the requests, citing student privacy law.
“Our focus will always be what is best for our students as we prepare them for their next steps in their educational journey,” she wrote.
The affluent, mostly white district -- the subject of a six-part NBC podcast -- has become a symbol for what backlash against “critical race theory” looks like.
The district recently attracted national attention after an administrator advised educators to teach students about the Holocaust from “opposing” perspectives, according to an audio recording obtained by NBC News.
Trustees also voted to reprimand a teacher who gave one of her students a book about anti-racism entitled This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell. The book is a New York Times best seller.
Last week in a video message to parents and students, Superintendent Lane Ledbetter vowed to shift his focus from uniting the city to uniting the school district. Ledbetter has been in his role less than a year.
“My job is to take care of our staff and to ensure that we’re providing a world-class education in a safe environment for our kids and our staff,” Ledbetter said in the video. “And I apologize that I’ve been distracted.”
Ledebtter’s first year as superintendent has been embroiled in controversy over the district’s proposed diversity and inclusion plan, called the Cultural Competence Action Plan. The plan -- intended to make the district more inclusive for students of color -- was drafted by a council of more than 60 parents, students and staff after videos of Carroll students chanting the n-word went viral in 2018 and 2019.
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