RESOLVED: On May 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights closed this complaint as resolved. The district revised its websites to state that its affinity groups are open to everyone regardless of race, told staff to include an inclusivity statement in all announcements, and notified students through school newsletters. See the letter here.
On March 20, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into this complaint. See the letter here.
On January 3, 2023, Parents Defending Education filed a complaint against Ashland School District in Ashland, Oregon, with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The complaint claimed the district was breaking Title VI, a law that bans race discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. It also claimed the district was violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which bars government bodies, including public schools, from treating people differently because of their race except in rare cases.
The complaint pointed to race-based affinity groups at Ashland High School and Ashland Middle School, and to a job posting for an “Elementary Student Affinity Group Advisor” at Bellview Elementary School. The district’s descriptions of these groups did not say they were open to all students.
Read the full complaint and see its evidence below:
