A lawsuit accusing a Skokie elementary school district of racial discrimination is back in Cook County court, now seeking court orders potentially requiring the state of Illinois to take action against public school districts that do not sufficiently fight racism in schools, which the plaintiffs believe is required under the Illinois state constitution and federal law to protect Black and other minority students’ rights to a public education.
The complaint specifically references state authority to take over school districts, should they refuse to comply.
On June 3, attorney Sheryl Ring, of McHenry, filed an amended complaint in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of a group of parents of racial minority school children, against Fairview Elementary School District 72 in Skokie.
Sheryl Ring
| facebook.com
The lawsuit had first been filed in January, asserting District 72 officials had violated the rights of Black, Latino and other racial minority students by not implementing so-called anti-racist programs and policies, and by not cracking down on white students, who they alleged harbored racist attitudes and beliefs and had engaged in racist behaviors.
They claim this includes instances in which:
A white student told a Black student her skin was “the color of poop;”
A white student told fellow students that when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, that all Black people would be removed from the country;
White students have referred “to children of color using racial slurs, including the use of the ‘n-word;’”
And a white student “made derogatory comments about Martin Luther King Jr to a group of Black students,” among other alleged instances.
The plaintiffs assert they have repeatedly asked District 72 to address these occurrences with “anti-racism” programs and training for staff and students, but have been rebuffed.
The plaintiffs assert school district personnel have created a “hostile learning environment for students of color,” and “prioritize the comfort of white children over all children of color in the District.”
The complaint notes that District 72 is a “majority-minority district.” A little less than half of the student body is white, while 32% of the students are Asian, 13% are Latino and about 2% are Black.
District 72 officials “have fostered an environment which refuses to acknowledge racism even exists, even as students of color are subjected to increasing levels of racist harassment from white students,” the plaintiffs said in their complaint.
The original version of the complaint also named Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois State School Superintendent Carmen Ayala as defendants. However, that complaint included no specific allegations against them, nor included any specific request for relief from them.
In response to the lawsuit, the school board members of District 72 sought to take the lawsuit to federal court in Chicago, asserting the lawsuit’s claims concerning violations of the students’ and parents’ rights under the U.S. Constitution and federal law should place the case in federal court.
However, when the school district’s lawyers conferred with lawyers for Pritzker and Ayala, the state defendants refused to agree to remove the case from Cook County to federal court. Court documents do not explain their particular objections.
District 72 still sought to take the case to federal court, asserting plaintiffs had not specified any claims against Pritzker or Ayala, making them merely “nominal defendants.” Since they “had no skin in the game,” they should have no say over how the district could defend itself, including whether the case could be taken to federal court, instead of Cook County.
U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood, however, disagreed.
In an order issued May 20, Wood said she could “not say that Plaintiffs seek no real relief” against Illinois state school officials or Pritzker.
She said the parent plaintiffs assured her they were pressing all claims against all defendants, including the state officials, and would file an amended complaint, specifically leveling claims against Ayala and the state of Illinois.
“In addition, as currently pleaded, Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief that would, in effect, require District 72 to modify its curriculum,” Judge Wood wrote. “The Court cannot conclude from the face of the complaint that such injunctive relief would not extend to either State defendant (Pritzker and Ayala.)”
And the judge noted, as the complaint is currently constructed, Ayala and the Illinois State Board of Education could ultimately be responsible for enforcing any anti-racism court orders against District 72 stemming from the parents’ discrimination claims.
This, she said, means the case needs to be litigated in Cook County, not federal court.
After Wood sent the case back to Cook County court, Ring and the parents filed a new complaint on June 3, which now included formal allegations and demands against Ayala, in her role as state school superintendent.
In their new complaint, they assert Ayala “has had actual knowledge of the racist culture at District 72” but has taken “little or no action” to enforce state policies against racism in public schools or to “conform state law to Illinois constitutional obligations” to ensure equal rights to public education for “students of color.”
They assert Ayala “failed and refused to use her position as Superintendent to protect the students of color at District 72.” They asserted these “failures” include:
- “Failing to set and/or enforce minimum equity standards in Illinois;”
- “Failing to require that students of color receive the same treatment and resources as white students;”
- “Failing to create and/or require a means for students of color to confidentially report racial harassment without fear of retaliation;”
- “Failing to create and/or enforce a policy prohibiting retaliation against students who enforce racial harassment;”
- “Failure to ensure District 72 complied with minimum state requirements;” and
- “Permitting District 72 to violate the rights of nonwhite students despite knowing such violations existed.”
As an example, they pointed to Ayala’s use of “her authority to require masking in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The lawsuit seeks court orders requiring District 72 and the state to institute and enforce anti-racism policies and programs in the school.
The lawsuit also seeks unspecified money damages on behalf of a class of potentially hundreds of “nonwhite” students and their parents in District 72.
District 72 defendants are represented by attorneys Kevin P. McKeown and Babak Bakhtiari, of the firm of Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn, of Arlington Heights.