U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz has issued a report on the results of a federal civil rights investigation at the prestigious Boston Latin School—identifying one specific civil rights violation and a pattern of racial discrimination at the school.
The case first drew attention in January, when a group of students made a video highlighting what they said was a racially hostile environment at Boston Latin, and criticized how the administration handled racially charged incidents.
The video gained traction, and the Boston branch of the NAACP and the ACLU of Massachusetts wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s office, citing several specific concerns. Ortiz’s office officially opened a six-month-long federal investigation into the school in March, under Title IV of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevents public schools, colleges and universities from discriminating against students based on race, color, national origin, religion and gender.
“The Department of Justice has widespread, vast, investigative power under that title,” said Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed. But the U.S. Attorney’s office, which falls under the department’s authority, didn’t have to flex those powers too much—Boston Public Schools reportedly cooperated fully in the investigation.
After interviewing more than 200 administrators, faculty, parents and students, visiting the site multiple times, and reviewing thousands of documents, the U.S. Attorney had two chief findings.
First, the report found one explicit civil rights violation back in November 2014, when a male student used a racial slur and threatened to lynch a black female student.
“A school commits a Title IV violation when a student is harassed, the school knows or should have known about the harassment, and fails to do anything to stop it or prevent its reoccurrence,” Medwed said.
The report also concluded that there were several troubling patterns at the school that didn’t rise to the level of a civil rights violation, including the school’s failure to address two incidents where white students harassed black students on social media; a pattern of treating student reports of racial harassment too casually; and the school’s use of discipline disproportionately impacting students of color.
“If investigators had found any criminal wrongdoing, they could have filed criminal charges,” says Medwed, “but evidently no such wrongdoing was detected, and the investigation is now closed.”
The consequence of the investigation is that there’s now a “resolution agreement” between Boston Public Schools and federal prosecutors that Boston Latin will take a series of steps to improve its racial climate over the next three years. The steps include training and professional development for all teachers, administrators, and staff; designate a diversity or “non-discrimination” officer to monitor all complaints and advocate for students.
At the end of 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s office will have 60 days to notify Boston Latin whether or not it’s completed the terms of the agreement.
“If the U.S. Attorney’s Office is not satisfied,” Medwed says, “then it’s back to the drawing board.”
