According to an email shared with the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH, principal Shannon Ritter mentioned that the "group is limited to students who identify as BIPOC." The club meets once a week during their lunch period, and the school is preparing to launch another BIPOC-only student club for other grades.
Ritter states that this space provides an opportunity for BIPOC students to form relationships, build their sense of security, and share their experiences as members of a minority group.
Mark Lamb, an attorney at Carney Badley Spellman, P.S., said that this type of discrimination could be legally questionable per Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits any discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
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February 07, 2023
Lamb also pointed out that the district's anti-discrimination policy clearly states that such discrimination is not allowed for "all students in all aspects of the academic and activities program."
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Lamb also told the Jason Rantz Show that the fact this was happening in an elementary school made it more legally challenging. He said the age of the students, in combination with the principal's email about this 'club', showed that this was not a student-driven situation but instead was implemented and defended by the school itself. He also added that the school district was verifying, in writing, that it would be enforcing segregation based on race.
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The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH was told by a representative for the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction that if someone is being discriminated against, the Office will provide technical support to the school in order to ensure that no student is barred from participating in activities.
February 07, 2023
Parents have been vocal over the racist and divisive nature of this program. One mother added “My son came home and said that they came into the classes, and they were promoting this and talked it up to the students, but then he found out that since he was white, he wasn’t able to participate,” Centennial Elementary School parent Jessica Juergens told KOMO News. “They have their friends that they want to play with at lunch, and a fourth or fifth grader can’t understand why they can’t play with their friends.”
“I feel like it’s promoting segregation at our schools, and we’ve moved away from that,” she concluded.
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