RESOLVED: On March 29, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights closed this complaint as resolved. The school removed language calling the show a “reserved safe space” for students of color, and its audition form no longer asks students about their race or for a headshot to confirm skin color. See the letter here.
On February 28, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into this complaint. See the letter here.
On October 4, 2022, Parents Defending Education filed a complaint against Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts, with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The complaint claimed the school was breaking Title VI, a law that bans race discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. It also claimed the school 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 school sponsored a show called “Lost and Found: Our Stories as People of Color.” Its audition packet called it “a no-cut cabaret-style show for students of color” and “a reserved safe space” for people of color. The audition form asked students how they “identify racially/ethnically” and requested a headshot. None of the materials said the show was open to all students.
Read the full complaint and see its evidence below:
