
U.S. Education Department launches civil rights investigation into Green Bay School District
'In America, we do not 'prioritize' students for educational access, nor do we judge their worth, on the basis of skin color. Schools must provide special needs students access to supportive educational resources on an equal footing and on the basis of need, not on the basis of race,' acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor said in a May 28 news release.
In the complaint, the law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty alleged the district discriminated against Green Bay King Elementary parent Colby Decker's son by not providing him access to literacy resources because he was not a 'focus student,' which was defined as a First Nations, Black or Hispanic student in King's student success plan. The focus student language has since been changed.
Decker's son has dyslexia, and she told WILL she requested he receive a one-on-one intervention. She said her son was put on a waiting list for reading interventions in April 2024 and was finally placed in a small group intervention last fall, which she said caused her son to fall behind.
Decker and WILL allege the district violated Title VI, which prohibits racial and ethnic discrimination. The civil rights complaint also raised concerns about the way the district handled WILL's original complaint, saying the district's investigation was biased. The complaint also claimed the district didn't meet special education law needs relating to Decker's son's dyslexia, which they said would account for discrimination on the basis of disability.
On May 28, OCR said it had opened a formal investigation into Green Bay based on the complaint. It will investigate whether the district violated Title VI, which prohibits racial and ethnic discrimination, and whether it failed to evaluate Decker's son as a student with disabilities, which it says is discrimination under federal law.
"The district had many opportunities to change course and make clear it would be treating its students in a colorblind way, and they didn't do that," WILL legal counsel Cory Brewer said. "We really hope this investigation is eye-opening for the district, particularly for district leaders."
Green Bay communications director Lori Blakeslee said the district hadn't yet received anything from OCR.
Contact Green Bay education reporter Nadia Scharf at nscharf@gannett.com or on X at @nadiaascharf.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Federal civil rights investigation launched into Green Bay Schools
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNN
24 minutes ago
- CNN
Ex-officer who mistook a Black man's keys and phone for a gun gets 15 years to life for murder
A former Ohio police officer convicted of murder in the shooting of Andre Hill, a Black man who was holding a cellphone and keys when he was killed, was given a mandatory sentence Monday of 15 years to life. Former Columbus officer Adam Coy shot Hill four times in a garage in December 2020, as the country reckoned with a series of police killings of Black men, women and children. He told jurors that he feared for his life because he thought Hill was holding a silver revolver. Coy, who is being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, told the court Monday he plans to appeal the verdict. 'I feel my actions were justified,' Coy said. 'I reacted the same way I had in hundreds of training scenarios. I drew and fired my weapon to stop a threat, protect myself and my partner.' Prosecutors said Hill followed police commands and was never a threat to Coy. In victim impact statements Monday, Hill's sisters and ex-wife described the 47-year-old as a gentle man who had never met a stranger. His grandchildren called him 'Big Daddy.' Police body camera footage showed Hill coming out of the garage of a friend's house holding up a cellphone in his left hand, his right hand not visible, seconds before he was fatally shot. Almost 10 minutes passed before officers at the scene rendered aid. Coy, who was fired afterward, had a lengthy history of citizen complaints, although most were declared unfounded. Weeks later, the mayor forced out the police chief after a series of fatal police shootings of Black people. Columbus later reached a $10 million settlement with Hill's family, and the city passed a law requiring police to give immediate medical attention to injured suspects. The local Fraternal Order of Police chapter said it would continue to support Coy, for both his sake and that of every officer who 'acts in good faith' under department protocols. 'While this incident was a heart-rending mistake, it wasn't murder,' said Brian Steel, president of FOP Capital City Lodge 9.


CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Suspect in Devil's Den double homicide may have been injured in attack, police say
The Arkansas State Police said they believe the suspect in the murder of a couple hiking with their daughters at Devil's Den State Park was injured while attacking the pair. Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were hiking with their young daughters when they were attacked, the ASP said. The couple were found dead on a walking trail, police said. The family had recently moved to the area from another state, the ASP said. Their daughters, aged 7 and 9, are being cared for by family. Police said in a news release they believe the suspect "likely sustained an injury while attacking the couple," but did not say how the suspect may have been injured or what led them to believe that was the case. Family members said in a statement that the Brinks "died heroes, protecting their little girls," but did not elaborate. The suspect was described as wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants and a black baseball cap, the ASP said. He is a White male with a medium build. The man was described as wearing sunglasses and fingerless gloves, and carrying a black backpack. The suspect was seen driving toward the park in a black four-door sedan, police said. The vehicle may be a Mazda with a covered license plate, police said. Police also shared a composite sketch of a man whom they said they are looking to identify so they can question him. The man was seen in the park on Saturday, police said. The sketch shows him with a loose-necked shirt and a dark hat. The ASP asked that anyone who visited the park on Saturday check any photos or videos they may have taken for images of the suspect. Residents who live in the area have been asked to notify police if they have access to security or game camera footage. Police said they have received "numerous calls" with possible tips. Devil's Den State Park is in West Fork, Arkansas. The park contains 11 hiking trails that lead into the surrounding Ozark National Forest, according to its website. The park is also home to dozens of campsites, an 8-acre lake and rock formations and caverns.


Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
The untapped potential AI can't replace in underserved communities like mine
The crime of post-60s liberalism is that it created permanent Black underclasses all over America, including on the South Side of Chicago where I live. The schools here are poor. Opportunities have been replaced by government handouts. Violence robs far too many families of their loved ones. Yet, there is much untapped potential in these underclasses. I thought about them as I listened to Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" detail the need for hundreds of thousands of tradesmen and women recently at the Pennsylvania Energy & Innovation Summit. He began by saying, "We've been telling kids for 15 years to learn to code." I, too, have been told to pursue that as a means of opportunity for my youth. But I always believed in the power of the trades. Rowe pointed out how the advent of AI has decimated many coding jobs but has not come after "the welders, the plumbers, the steamfitters, the pipefitters, the HVAC, or the electricians." AI cannot do manual labor. For the last 20 or so, our nation has emphasized the college degree above everything, including vocational training. In my opinion, this has been disastrous. In my community, there are still those who look down at the prospect of working with their hands. They believe the college degree is their ticket. Maybe it is, but my point here is that work done by our hands should not be looked down upon in our culture. It's honest work. Rowe said that he heard Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, say in Aspen that "we need 500,000 electricians in the next couple of years — not hyperbole." My non-profit has provided training in the electrician field to many individuals, including a Chicago Police officer who eventually left the force to work full time in her new field. He said the over 80,000 collision repair technicians would be needed. Over 140,000 tradespeople are needed to help companies build and deliver nuclear-powered submarines to the Navy. And for the energy field, 300,000 to 500,000 people will be needed. AI can't do any of this work. But I know people from the South Side and similar neighborhoods across America who can. We need to train these people and put them to work. They may be living in poverty and they may not have received the best education. But many of them are hungry to improve their lives. That is why our nation must reverse the decline of post-60s liberalism by giving these people direct pathways to opportunity. If one should fail or act detrimentally, then dismiss that person and let him or her be an example to others of what happens when one doesn't fully commit. We are a nation in a crisis. If we don't reverse the fortunes of my neighborhood and others like it, then when? The Golden Age for many Americans lies in the pursuit of a livelihood in the trades.