Parents Group Demands Investigation After White Teachers Excluded From School Event

A parental rights group requested a federal probe of a California school district after it hosted an event last year that explicitly excluded white faculty members, according to a letter first shared with The Daily Wire. 

Parents Defending Education sent a letter on Monday requesting that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigate the Acalanes Union High School District in Lafayette, California, for racial discrimination. The group said that the district was violating federal civil rights law by offering racially exclusionary programming for faculty members. The request comes after the district made headlines last year after a school employee held an event for staff that left out white people. 

“PDE and its members oppose racial discrimination and political indoctrination in America’s schools. Acalanes Union High School District is offering additional programming for employees of color that are not offered to all employees in the district,” Parents Defending Education wrote in a letter to the director and regional attorney of the Oakland field office for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 

The complaint stems from an incident last year when district’s director of student equity and inclusion Lynnā McPhatter-Harris hosted an event for all non-white employees in the district. In an email, she sent out an invitation for an event saying for an event for non-white district employees. 

“We are looking forward to seeing our people of color in the district. Please invite any employee of color to this event,” she wrote. 

“Be reminded that we have avoided inviting people that are not of color as there remains feelings of uneasiness and mistrust and we need this to be a safe space for our people of color,” the email said. “Please reach out to me if you have any questions of concerns.”

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Parents Defending Education said that the district was guilty of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act over the programming. The district did not respond to a Daily Wire request for comment on whether there had been any more similar events. 

“Acalanes Union High School likewise cannot exclude employees based on their race. We ask that your office promptly investigate the allegations in this complaint, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief,” the group wrote. 

PDE also drew attention in its letter to language from a contractual agreement between the Acalanes Education Association and Acalanes Union High School District that includes language about teachers promoting equity in the classroom. The group has focused on highlighting how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs have been adopted across the country.