Norwin School District did not address ‘racially hostile environment,’ Department of Education says

The U.S. Department of Education says Norwin School District did not do enough to address a racially hostile environment nearly three years ago. Now, the district has agreed to follow a seven-point plan to make sure it’s following the law.

In October 2021, some students in Norwin School District were stunned to see what some fellow classmates wore to a “Merica Day” celebration during homecoming week — where students were encouraged to wear red, white, and blue.

“It was all going okay until I started seeing people with confederate pants and shirts. They are walking around with teachers around and nobody was taking any action,” Arnav Bedekar told Channel 11 three years ago.

Parents reported that incident and reported others to the U.S. Department of Education.

The Department of Education said for the span of 10 months, the Norwin School District violated federal civil rights laws.

In a letter, the Department of Education said in part, “[the district] was made aware of a racially hostile environment but failed to take the necessary steps to end the hostile environment and redress its effects for the school community.”

Now the Department of Education says Norwin has agreed to a seven-step plan to ensure they are not breaking the law.

Part of that plan includes training staff on federal civil rights law and educating students in middle and high school on racial discrimination.

The district tells Channel 11 it is already doing a lot of these, and has been since 2022.

The district sent this statement to Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.

“Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that the Norwin School District entered into a resolution agreement to ensure future compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI). While the District knowingly entered into the agreement and is fully committed to undertaking the items set forth in the Agreement, the District is compelled to respond to certain statements made in the OCR’s press release which were not embodied in the resolution agreement.

First and foremost, the District remains committed to complying with its longstanding policy of providing an equal opportunity for all students to achieve their maximum potential through the programs offered in the schools without discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, ancestry, nationalorigin, marital status, pregnancy, handicap/disability, or genetic information. The District also remains committed to maintaining high expectations for all students, and eliminating persistent disparities among students based on race, ethnicity, language, or disability.

While the resolution agreement obligates the District to strive to improve District climate and operations, the District is compelled to express its concern with the manner in which much of this matter has proceeded through the OCR’s investigatory process. A complaint was filed by an unidentified Complainant with the OCR in October of 2021. The Complaint focused exclusively upon the District’s Spirit Week celebration that month, and the District’s disciplining of two students who were seen wearing clothing which depicted a confederate flag. Upon being notified of the offensive clothing, District Administration called the students into the office and required the students to remove the clothing at issue.

The District timely responded to the OCR’s Request for Information in April of 2022 and at all times material hereto, the District cooperated with the OCR’s investigation into these other incidents, and voluntarily produced all relevant documents and witnesses for interviews. The District further notes that the OCR concluded its interviews with District witnesses in December of 2022, and the OCR had no further contact with the District until June of 2024 (i.e., approximately 1 ½ years later), when the OCR proposed that the District execute a resolution agreement. The OCR investigators acknowledged and apologized for the untimely delay in their investigation.

The District further notes that the OCR investigators indicated they would only provide the District substantive evidence that supported their findings only after the District signed the resolution agreement.

A letter from OCR dated October 2, 2024 appears to suggest that the issues outlined in therein persist today, when in fact a review of the specific issues reveals that most, if not all, of the incidents described therein involved issues which arose three or more years ago, and some issues which arose in the summer when school was not in session.

The District is committed to moving forward in a positive and collaborative fashion, and it will continue to strive to foster an inclusive, healthy, and non-discriminatory educational environment for all District students.”

“Shame on them for having to have the department of education get involved to actually address this,” said Fawn Walker-Montgomery, Founder of the Take Action Advocacy Group.

In 2021, students reached out to Walker-Montgomery saying the district wasn’t doing enough.

She said Thursday it’s a step in the right direction, but she wants Norwin to do more to ensure any person of color is safe.

“I hope that the school district sees their role in this and not the fluff,” she said. “I hope they look beyond the statements that they release and look in the mirror.”

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