Attorney: Wauwatosa School District to close STEM programs, school for being ‘too white’

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The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) is threatening legal action against the Wauwatosa School District (WSD) and its superintendent after they announced plans to shut down the Wauwatosa STEM School, currently ranked the third-best elementary school in Wisconsin by U.S News and World Report.

According to WILL, WSD plans to close other STEM-specific programs and opportunities district-wide because the programs are “too white.”

WILL noted, Federal law and the U.S. Constitution prohibit school districts from implementing policies to “racially balance” student populations.

Counsel for WILL said they are prepared to bring a civil action against the district to protect the constitutional rights of parents and students.

“Around the country, woke school boards are closing schools and shifting programs because they don’t like the racial makeup. This is illegal and immoral race discrimination. Tosa should resist this plan or face the consequences,” said WILL Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington.

According to the district website, a task force is proposing to fix several “challenges” and “concerns” in the district, including that in certain programs and schools, the “student population (is) not as diverse as the District’s overall population.”

“This is just code for race, and the district’s desire to shift around students to have a preferable balance,” said counsel for WILL.

According to WILL, making recommendations on which programs to offer and which schools to operate based on the racial demographics of the students using those programs violates the constitutional guarantees of equal protection. Title VI asserts that all students must be treated equally, without regard to race.

“As it has done in the past, WILL is prepared to engage in a civil action against the district, administrators and school board members if this plan continues. WILL stands ready to defend the constitutional rights of students and parents while also supporting their educational opportunities and high-achieving programs,” counsel for WILL said.

Click here to view the letter WILL sent to the school district.

During an interview with the Wisconsin Law Journal on Thursday night, Superintendent of Schools at Wauwatosa School District Dr. Demond Means said, “The allegations presented by WILL are not just legally meritless, but they are based on false allegations and assumptions.”

“The district has never and will never make decisions based on racial balancing,” Means said.

On Friday, the Wauwatosa School District also issued a formal statement.

“The Wauwatosa School District is in receipt of a letter from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL). The allegations presented in WILL’s letter have no legal merit, as the various conclusory statements made in the letter are based on inaccurate facts and false assumptions,” school district officials said in the written statement.

In response, Lennington said, “Our letter links to documents on WSD’s own website, so anyone can read for themselves the District’s plans to racially balance students. In fact, members of the public can go on YouTube and see many statements by the Board lamenting the perceived problems of too many white students in certain programs. If WSD denies that race is a factor in their decision-making, then we welcome that change and would be happy to assist the District in coming into full compliance with state and federal law.”