District 202 Responds to Parent's Complaints

has changed its procedures for gathering student opinions, after a parent filed a civil rights complaint about minority students being asked to take part in a focus group last spring without their parents' or guardians' consent.

Roderick Smith said his son, a student at , returned home from school on March 14 and said he and 15 other students of African-American or Hispanic descent had been pulled from their seventh-period classes to participate in a focus group. The students were asked to share their opinions on their school and home lives, and participate in a written component, Smith said.

Superintendent Patricia Wernet issued the following statement to Patch via email on Oct. 7: "I cannot and will not discuss individual students; however, this accusation was thoroughly investigated at multiple levels and the determination was found at all levels to be not true. I find this accusation to be reckless and inaccurate.”

Smith's subsequent correspondence with school officials confirms that the district’s Parent/Staff Diversity Committee conducted a discussion with students that afternoon. The committee evaluates, and attempts to ensure the quality, of the education that minority students receive. Records indicate the focus group was conducted by a school counselor, a teacher, a learning environment supervisor and a central office administrator.

Smith said his son felt uncomfortable because he was included on the basis of his race. Smith said that according to his son, moderators told students they were chosen based on their performance on state-mandated academic tests.

Following his son's reports of the discussion group, Smith contacted members of the district's adminstration and board, including Principal Pete Sullivan and Wernet. Karen Gordon, the district's director of student services, investigated the matter. In a correspondence with Smith, Gordon said that the focus group met with students of color, but they were chosen based on staff recommendations as opposed to grades or test scores.

Records provided by Smith indicate he was concerned that the district had violated students’ rights under the 14th Amendment, which provides due process and equal protection to all citizens under the law. Smith also maintained the district did not secure parental permission prior to the focus group. In his initial complaint, he requested that the district issue a formal apology to the parents and students involved, as well as turn over to parents any documents collected during the focus group.

Smith said the district has never divulged how it intended to use the information gathered during the focus group.

Gordon issued a determination letter on March 18 that district procedures weren’t properly followed relating to the focus group. She said the district would inform the parents of the involved students of the exercise, and secure permission prior to future efforts. Smith was issued a copy of a word exercise that students filled out during the session, but district officials said no other written survey was issued.

On March 21, the school principal, Sullivan, issued a letter to the parents of those students who participated in the focus group. The letter, in part, said, the intent of the discussion was “to honor the students’ voices and being to incorporate the students’ ideas into future planning… to make sure Lisle High School is an inclusive and supportive environment for students of color.

“Upon reflection, we should have contacted parents/guardians to discuss our plans and make sure everyone understood participation to be voluntary,” Sullivan said in the letter.

Smith said he filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) shortly after because he felt the district did not take proper steps to correct its actions with other affected parents.

A formal investigation by OCR showed that no other families in the district filed grievances. A spokesman with the U.S. Department of Education said the federal office "did not make any substantive findings of compliance/non-compliance" in Smith's accusations.

The federal OCR in a determination letter dated June 20 said it considered the matter resolved following the district's letter to affected parents and its promise to secure parental consent in the future.

Since Smith's objections to the focus group, the district has informed parents and guardians two weeks prior to planned surveys of any type, including how to review a survey before it's conducted, and how they can remove their child from participation.