The federal Department of Education wants to negotiate with Southlake’s school leaders over students’ civil rights complaints, according to lawyers who represent the families in Carroll ISD.
The group that filed the complaints – which alleged students faced years of racist and homophobic harassment that was brushed over by district officials – issued an open letter. In it, they wrote they were notified this week that the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights invited Carroll ISD to negotiate a resolution on four complaints.
The office “only initiates negotiations in complaints for which it found that the school district violated the complainant’s civil rights,” the Legal Defense Fund wrote in a Thursday news release.
This update comes after years of frustration from the families in Southlake who spoke out against the district’s culture. Their federal complaints date back to 2021.
The Department of Education does not comment on pending investigations. A spokesperson for Carroll ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The news was first reported by NBC News, which produced a multipart podcast that gave Southlake a national reputation as a symbol for what bitter fights over race, gender and politics look like in schools.
Former CISD student Raven Rolle said she is grateful that, after three years, “the egregious civil rights violations students face in Carroll ISD are finally being officially recognized as such.”
“We look forward to good-faith negotiations with the school district to finally rectify these injustices and cultivate a climate truly welcoming of all Dragons, regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual identity,” she said in a statement.
Rolle also co-wrote an open letter to Carroll Superintendent Lane Ledbetter on behalf of the Southlake Anti-Racism Coalition. She requested updates from the district on whether officials will negotiate with the civil rights office and commit to regularly updating the public on the status of those discussions.
Generally, when federal investigators determine a school violated someone’s civil rights, officials work to negotiate an agreement that can require specific action items for the district, such as increased training or policy revisions.
Federal officials then monitor how those steps are implemented. They can refer a case to the Department of Justice “in the event of breach.” Federal funding can be at stake.
The status of four other civil rights complaints against Carroll ISD is unclear.
What happened in Southlake?
In 2018, a video of Southlake students chanting the N-word went viral. Afterward, several Black families came forward with stories of racial discrimination that they faced in the wealthy, mostly white Tarrant County district.
Administrators convened a committee of more than 60 students, parents and staff to discuss how children of color were treated in the district and to assemble recommendations for improvement.
The group suggested hiring a director of equity and inclusion; establishing a grievance system through which students can report discrimination; and requiring cultural competency training, among other changes.
Their recommendations triggered a major backlash, paving the way for new school board members who campaigned on their opposition to the plan. The new trustees were elected with the support of a well-funded Christian conservative political action committee.
The school board has since struck references to gender identity, sexual orientation and religion from the nondiscrimination statement in the district’s student code of conduct. They’ve passed policies targeting the bathrooms and pronouns used by transgender students.
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