Department Of Education To Investigate Complaint Against Central Bucks

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The U.S. Department of Education has announced that its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will investigate a complaint filed by the ACLU of Pennsylvania against the Central Bucks School District alleging a wide spread culture of discrimination against LGBTQ+ students, particularly transgender students.

On Friday, the ACLU responded, calling the decision to investigate, "A step in the right direction for justice for these students.

"That the U.S. Department of Education has decided to investigate is no big surprise," reads a Tweet from the ACLU of Pennsylvania posted Friday. "The evidence we collected was overwhelming. And awful. Public schools must welcome and support ALL students."

The investigation will be led by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which enforces Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance.

While the DOE has opened an investigation, it notes in a letter to the ACLU-PA that "opening allegations for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination on their merits. During the investigation, OCR is a neutral fact-finder, collecting and analyzing relevant evidence from the complainant, the district and other sources. OCR will ensure that its investigation is legally sufficient and fully responds to the allegations."

On Oct. 6, the Pennsylvania ACLU filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, on behalf of seven unnamed Central Bucks School District students who allege a widespread culture of discrimination against LGBTQ+ students, particularly transgender students.

The complaint, said the ACLU-PA, is based on a five-month investigation by its lawyers who interviewed dozens of students, family members, current and former teachers and other school staff, and community stakeholders.

In response to the complaint, Dana Hunter, the president of the Central Bucks School Board, defended the school district and the school board saying it is "resolute and united in its zero tolerance for discrimination, bullying or harassment of any kind.

“The district is resolute and united in its commitment to every single student in our community. Every single one,” said Hunter. “We have policies in place to protect children. Those policies are for every administrator, faculty member and support staff to follow. Should a staff member fail to follow policies, they put student well-being at risk.

“What the ACLU has done is publicly release a complaint with 27 pages of wholly-redacted information from seven unnamed individuals," she continued.

“The anonymous and hidden nature of this information makes it impossible for our administrators, school councilors and teachers to do the critical work of connecting with these unnamed individuals to intervene and address any possible bullying or problematic situations,
to activate support and resources to implement corrective actions with the goal of bringing about positive change,” said Hunter.

“I call on the ACLU to immediately provide its full complaint - without redactions - and bring to the board’s attention any allegations of discrimination, harassment, bullying of any kind so that the allegations can be investigated and addressed appropriately,” said Hunter.

According to the complaint against the district, the picture that emerged is of a "toxic educational environment" for LGBTQ+ students that has been exacerbated recently by "homophobic and transphobic actions and policies" taken by the school board and upper-level administrators.

The alleged discrimination is based on sex and the violation of the students’ rights under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments.

“These children deserve a safe environment where they can learn and be their full selves without fear of being bullied by other students,” said Witold Walczak, legal director at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Unfortunately, rather than combat the toxic educational environment
faced by LGBTQ+ students in Central Bucks, a new school board majority and the administration have exacerbated the problems with new homophobic and transphobic policies that have heightened the climate of fear for this group of students and supportive staff.”