NY School District Withdraws Challenge to Human Rights Law

At a Board of Education meeting on October 23, 2007, the Ithaca City School District unanimously voted to rescind its challenge to New York State’s Human Rights Law. In calling off this challenge, the Ithaca City School District cleared the way for a hearing on claims made by Amelia Kearny that her daughter was subjected to relentless, racially motivated harassment by a group of white students while riding a public school bus to DeWitt Middle School. The school district initially denied the validity of the allegations, and further argued that the Human Rights Law does not apply to public schools. When a state trial court ruled that the law does in fact apply to public schools, the school district launched an appeal contesting the use of the law.

In advance of the school board vote, Lambda Legal sent a letter to every member of the Board of Education pointing out flaws in the school district’s legal arguments and identifying the potential harm in attacking the Human Rights Law. Numerous community members and representatives of organizations attended the hearing to ask the board to revoke its challenge so students’ protection under the human rights law would not be jeopardized.

Board of Education member Seth Peacock had asked fellow members to reconsider their stance on this issue at aboard meeting in early October, spurring further dialogue, which eventually led to the new vote on the issue. At the hearing, Peacock extended thanks to Lambda Legal in particular: “I want to thank Lambda Legal for their involvement in this case. Their letter, I think, allowed many of us to look at this issue differently.”

Read Lambda Legal’s letter to Board of Ed members