Cobb school district subject of federal civil rights probe

The U.S. Department of Education this week launched an investigation into the Cobb County School District after receiving a complaint of what it calls “shared ancestry” discrimination.

Cobb joins a growing list of K-12 school districts and universities being probed since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in October.

The education department’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating the complaints under Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars schools receiving federal funds from discriminating based on race, color and national origin.

Those complaints can also include harassment based on a person’s shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.

The OCR, which has been stepping up probes since mid-October at the behest of the Biden Administration, did not specify the nature of the Cobb school district investigation, which was launched on Tuesday.

East Cobb News has not received a copy of the complaint and contacted the Cobb school district seeking information.

A district spokeswoman said in a statement Thursday evening that “despite social media posts made by familiar political activists which are simply not accurate, there is no antisemitism OCR complaint against the District. We are aware of a single complaint, at a single school, that isn’t related to antisemitism. All students in Cobb should feel safe and welcomed, we do not tolerate hate of any kind.”

The Cobb school district was the subject of public complaints by Muslim and Palestinian parents shortly after the Middle East conflict began for a message that went out informing school families of an “international threat” by Hamas.

The message said that “while there is no reason to believe this threat has anything to do with our schools, parents can expect both law enforcement and school staff to take every step to keep your children safe.”

Nazia Khanzada, mother of a Cobb fifth-grader, told the Cobb school board at its Oct. 20 meeting that the school district’s message “has directly resulted in hate, harassment and bullying threats directed at Cobb’s Arabic and Muslim students and their families, including myself.”

At the same meeting, Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale replied to the criticism by saying that “the information we received required us to let the entire district and parents know we were taking the threats seriously” and that “bullying and hate of any type will not be tolerated in the Cobb County School District.”

A Jewish Campbell High School student told the Cobb school board Thursday—the first night of Hanukkah—that she’s experienced several instances of anti-Semitism and doesn’t feel safe on campus.

A Palestinian high school student also complained that she and those like her are being silenced and demanded that the district provide more resources to increase diversity and inclusivity.

The district has come under fire in recent years for how it has treated anti-Semitic acts at schools, including swastika graffiti at Pope and Lassiter high schools in East Cobb.

A number of parents and citizens have asked the district to bring back a “No Place for Hate” educational program produced for schools by the Anti-Defamation League.

The OCR also launched Title VI investigations Tuesday at Montana State University, Union College in New York, the University of Cincinnati and Tulane University in New Orleans.

A number of other notable educational institutions, including the New York City Department of Education and Harvard University, also are being probed for complaints of anti-Semitic treatment since the start of the Middle East conflict.

If the Cobb school district is found to have violated Title VI, it could be asked to submit a plan for compliance or OCR could conduct its own enforcement.

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