DETROIT – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan has resolved its investigation into allegations of race discrimination by the Hartland Consolidated School District, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today. The United States Attorney’s Office initiated an investigation under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act based on a complaint filed by a then-student in the district and her guardian, which alleged that the District failed to address pervasive race-based harassment of the student and other Black students in the district. Title IV authorizes the Department of Justice, of which the United States Attorney’s Office is a component, to address complaints that a school is depriving students of equal protection based on race, color, and other protected characteristics.
The District cooperated fully with the investigation and voluntarily took a number of steps to address concerns that were raised during the investigation, including creating a School Board-level Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee, instituting training for staff and students, revising internal policies and practices regarding the investigation process for allegations of harassment, and adding counseling and social work staff. The District agreed to take additional steps during the 2022-23 school year, such as conducting a district-wide climate survey to assess the presence and effect of harassment based on race, developing a plan to address the concerns identified by the survey, and increasing measures to learn of, investigate, and respond to complaints of racial harassment.
“Students deserve a safe school environment where they can learn and grow without facing racial harassment. In districts like Hartland, where students of color are only a small percentage of the student body, schools must make an extra effort to ensure that all students are comfortable reporting harassment and other forms of discrimination and be confident that the adults in the building will keep them safe,” said Ison. “We commend the Hartland Consolidated School District for acknowledging their obligations to remove barriers to ensure that all students can fully engage in the educational process.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will review the District’s compliance with the terms of the resolution during and at the end of the 2022-23 school year, and if the terms are found to have been satisfied, it will close its investigation. The case was handled by AUSAs Susan K. DeClercq and Luttrell Levingston.
The Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan was established in 2010 with the mission of prioritizing federal civil rights enforcement. For more information on the Office’s civil rights efforts, including a copy of the Letter of Resolution with the Hartland Consolidated School District, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/programs/civil-rights. Civil rights complaints may be emailed to usamie.civilrights@usdoj.gov or by contacting the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s civil rights hotline at (313) 226-9151.