The Legal Defense Fund and the law firm of Arnold & Porter issued a letter today on behalf of their clients, students and families in Southlake, Texas, demanding that the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR”) release the findings in its investigation of civil rights violations by the Carroll Independent School District (“CISD”) no later than December 31, 2024. LDF joins the families’ demands for transparency and to vindicate students’ rights to an education free from race and sex discrimination.
Over three years ago, two Southlake families filed complaints alleging egregious race and sex discrimination by CISD. The complaints chronicle the persistent harassment that the students faced, alleging that CISD was aware of this harassment and failed to address it. OCR completed its factual investigation in September 2023 and made determinations in both complaints, but it has yet to release its findings. If OCR fails to release its findings before the change in administration, it will jeopardize the likelihood that any findings will ever be released and will cause more harm to Complainants—and to the credibility of OCR—than if OCR never investigated at all. OCR owes these students and their families its findings, at the very least, so that they can close this painful chapter of their lives.
Read the full letter here.
