Darien-Area District Under Federal Investigation

DARIEN, IL – Center Cass School District 66 is one of three dozen Illinois districts that the federal government is investigating to determine whether they are teaching "sexual orientation and gender ideology."

Center Cass includes parts of Darien, Downers Grove and Woodridge.

Subscribe

The U.S. Department of Justice listed the districts Thursday in a news release. They are a mix of schools in the suburbs and downstate.

The same day, the department sent a letter to Center Cass about the investigation. The district posted it online.

In a statement, Center Cass said it did not know how it was selected, but is confident it complies with state and federal laws and court precedents.

"Center Cass takes all matters concerning student rights, safety, and well-being with the utmost seriousness," the district said.

On Friday, Superintendent Andrew Wise said the district learned all of the Illinois districts on the list received the School Violence Prevention Program grant through the Department of Justice.

In its own statement, the Justice Department said it wanted to see whether the districts in question were letting parents opt their children out of lessons involving sexual orientation and gender ideology.

The agency also said it would look into whether Illinois school districts limit access to single-sex spaces such as restrooms and locker rooms and girls sports teams based on biological sex.

Patch emailed an inquiry to the Justice Department on Friday on how it defines the ideology in question.

"This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the department's Civil Rights Division said in the news release.

She continued, "Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt: parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests."

The department said it has not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigations.

Ed Yohnka, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Illinois, said the investigations are "incredibly misguided." He contended the government is seeking to single out LGBTQ students "with malice," saying they are already likely being picked up.

"Is that what government is supposed to do?" he said. "I think it's not."