MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Department of Public Instruction has ordered the Burlington Area School District to repair what the agency is calling a “racially hostile environment.”
The DPI issued an order on Friday giving the district 30 days to come up with a corrective action plan to prevent racial discrimination in student discipline and “adequately redress the racially hostile environment.”
The order comes after a mother complained to the district that her two Black students had been harassed between the years of 2016 and 2020.
She alleged they were called racial slurs, interrogated by district staff after white children hurt them and were spat on and pushed down stairs.
The district issued a statement saying the district is working to reject racism while the superintendent addressed the district’s plans via Facebook video.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
