Department of Education Urges Schools to Protect Students from Discriminatory Discipline

By William J. Zee

July 14, 2023

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (Justice) jointly released a Resource on Confronting Racial Discrimination in Student Discipline. 

This new resource provides details investigations of racial discrimination over the last 10 years, and examples of OCR’s enforcement practices, outlining how investigations of 14 school districts in 10 states, including, Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah, were address by the Departments. 

The investigations were conducted under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its regulations, and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and involved claims of discrimination in connection with the use of out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, school-based arrests, referrals to law enforcement, involuntary discipline transfers, informal removals, and other discipline against Black, Latino, and/or Native American students. 

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon notes that “OCR remains committed to ensuring nondiscrimination in disciplinary practices.” The information is intended to assist school administrators, teachers, and educational staff administer student discipline to do so fairly, and to provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory educational environment for all students, teachers, and other educators. 

Should you have any questions regarding student disciplinary issues or application of this new Resource material , please do not hesitate to contact William J. Zee or any of the attorneys in the Appel, Yost & Zee Education Law Group.