Atlanta mom says local school designates certain classrooms as off-limits to Black students: lawsuit
A federal civil rights office will investigate a school segregation complaint filed by an Atlanta parent against her daughter's school district.
Kila Posey, a Mary Lin Elementary School parent, requested a specific teacher for her daughter in July 2021, but she said principal Sharyn Briscoe told her the class was not one of the two second-grade classes designated for Black students, and her contract for an after-school program she runs was not renewed after she complained about segregated classes, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“She informed me via email that she was not renewing my contract,” Posey said. “No reason, no anything.”
Both Posey and Briscoe are Black, and about 10 percent of students at Mary Lin are also Black, and Posey filed a retaliation complaint after her business, called "The Club," did not have its contract renewed for services she provides after school at several Atlanta public schools.
The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights confirmed it was investigating a retaliation complaint filed by Posey but did not offer any additional details, and it's also investigating whether the school violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which blocks federal funding for school districts that discriminate on the basis of race.
Posey also claimed that Mary Lin reassigned her husband Jason Posey, who worked there as a school psychologist, to work remotely after filing the segregation complaint.
He now works for another school system and their children now attend a private school.
Mary Lin is located in a predominantly white middle-class neighborhood and serves about 600 students, and in 2021 had six second-grade classes, with just two designated for the 12 Black students enrolled at that time.
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