Elmbrook Schools Disputes Law Firm's 'Race Discrimination' Claim

BROOKFIELD, WI — A law firm accused the Elmbrook School District in a letter Wednesday claiming a school administrator said race discrimination laws didn't apply to a white student, but the school district disputed the claim and said its report was taken out of context.

In a letter to the district superintendent, the conservative nonprofit Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty claimed that district assistant superintendent Tanya Frederich wrote in a report that a white student wasn't a protected class under state and federal law.

Here's what the law firm said they read in the report.

"Although there is no eveidence that the student's race (white,) sexual orientation (heterosexual) and socio-economic status (middle-upper middle class) were a consideration in any decision made by the district regarding the student, it must also be noted that the student is not a member of any class that is legally protected from discrimination by state or federal law. To the contrary, the student's race, sexual orientation and socio-economic status are what are considering to be the majority status and thus do not form a basis for claiming that the student is being treated or has been treated less favorably than persons not in the protected class."

The district replied with quotes picked from its own report to dispute the law firm's claims. "WILL could not have read the entire report it cites and credibly have come to that conclusion," the district said in a statement.

The student wasn't discriminated against based on race, sexuality or class, the district said it found in its report.

"There is no evidence that the student’s race, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status was a factor in any decision made by the district or that if the student would have been a member of an underserved group or protected class that she would have been given a different opportunity to meet her needs," the district added.

The report followed a complaint lodged by an unnamed parent of an Elmbrook student, and the district said the law firm picked one paragraph from a multi-page report and placed it out of context.

"While the statement referenced by WILL could have been stated more clearly, Elmbrook’s official position is that it does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race or any other protected class," the district said. District officials said the parent's complaint asserted their student would have been treated better if they were a "protected class."

The law firm would keep watching the Elmbrook School District for its "compliance with basic principles of equality and their administration of colorblind policies," WILL Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington said in a statement.