February 7, 2025 - American Public News

ITHACA, N.Y. — Federal officials granted a request to open an investigation into the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) for its handling of an event aimed at supporting students of color, according to a Jan. 27 letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.Depending on the findings, the district could lose federal aid — which totaled about $1.7 million last year, according to state and district data.The initial complaint was filed in August 2024 by Cornell University law professor and conservative blogger William Jacobson through his non-profit organization, Legal Insurrection Foundation. As part of its anti-affirmative action Equal Protection Project, the group has filed dozens of similar complaints about other educational institutions, including Ithaca College. Jacobson alleged in the complaint the district’s handling of its annual Students of Color United Summit “reflected systemic discrimination against white students.” The student organized event often includes activities such as spoken word poetry, discussions on identity and musical performances.The complaint sat unaddressed under former President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has prioritized eliminating or targeting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives during the first weeks of his administration.The development is not the first time Ithaca has found itself the target of federal scrutiny since Trump’s second inauguration: last week, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a highly publicized arrest outside a county building.The letter from the Department of Education, posted on Jacobson’s website and first reported by The Ithaca Times, states federal officials will investigate “whether the district subjected students to different treatment on the bases of race and color by sponsoring Students of Color United Summits that excluded white students in violation of Title VI and its implementing regulations.”The letter did not provide a timeline for the investigation. Contact information for the sender, a “Senior Compliance Team Attorney,” was redacted in the copy of the letter posted to Jacobson’s website.The August 2024 complaint includes screenshots of communication from various district staff and leaders stating the event is open to “students of color.” It also includes images of promotional materials drafted by the event’s student organizers.While messages vary, one email to Ithaca High School staff in 2021 states the summit is “only for people who identify as people of color.”Following a May 2024 letter of demands to the school district — also from Jacobson — district leaders said the annual event was open to all students, staff and educators who wished to attend, regardless of their race or ethnicity. In a written statement to The Ithaca Voice, school board president Sean Eversley Bradwell said the district “welcomes the investigation” and that it would “fully cooperate with the Office of Civil Rights.” Bradwell also reiterated ICSD’s 2024 response to a letter Jacobson sent to the district that year.“Ithaca City School District programs do not exclude,” Bradwell wrote. “The 2024 program was created by students to support and affirm students of color and all students, staff and educators were invited to attend.”In the federal complaint, Jacobson alleged the district had only opened the event to white students after he sent an initial letter of complaint to the district in May 2024. He said past iterations of the summit had excluded white attendees.In an email, Jacobson said he’d like to see ICSD face “substantial monetary penalty” to ensure the district “gets the message.”“Any future [federal] funding should be contingent on ICSD admitting its wrongdoing and holding the responsible staff and administrators responsible,” Jacobson said. ICSD’s federal funding is primarily intended to provide assistance to disadvantaged students enrolled in the district. This school year, ICSD received $1.17 million in funding through the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, according to data from the New York State Education Department, which administers the grant. The funding is allocated based on the number of students with higher-than-average needs, like those in poverty, have disabilities or are learning English as a second language. The district also receives federal funding to provide school meals to all students.In total, ICSD budget estimates show some $1.7 million in annual federal funding could hang in the balance.Jacobson said he also wanted the Department of Education to “compel ICSD to hire an independent monitor to oversee non-discrimination policy and implementation in the district.” He added that his group was willing to take on that role at no cost to the district.Jacobson said he was hopeful that the complaint would result in action now that the Department of Education is under the purview of the Trump administration.“We are hopeful that under the new administration the Department of Education or its successor will very vigorously enforce the civil rights laws in districts like ICSD,” Jacobson said.Trump has said he intends on dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. It’s not yet clear what would happen to the investigation should the department be shuttered prior to the conclusion of the matter.Following national press coverage of the initial complaint in August 2024, Bradwell and ICSD Superintendent Luvelle Brown, both of whom are Black, received a litany of emails and phone messages, some of which contained racist language and threats of violence. Neither Bradwell nor Brown offered comment on the possibility of similar messages following recent coverage of the pending investigation.The post Trump Dept of Education to investigate Ithaca schools for diversity event appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.

Daily Archives: February 7, 2025

Trump Dept of Education to investigate Ithaca schools for diversity event

Letter to the Editor: In support of Sheriff Derek Osborne