The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began a review for potential discrimination based on shared ancestry at West Contra Costa Unified School District near downtown San Francisco in Richmond, Calif.
The OCR started the investigation on Thursday into whether the district violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It did not name the reasons behind the complaint but classified the case as potential “National Origin Discrimination Involving Religion.”
JNS contacted the district and requested the letter it received from the Ed Department notifying it of the investigation but did not hear back.
The Northern California district includes 26,312 students and serves the cities of Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, El Cerrito and Hercules, as well as the unincorporated areas of Bayview-Montalvin Manor, East Richmond Heights, El Sobrante, Kensington, North Richmond and Tara Hills.
The 39 elementary schools, 38 middle schools and nine high schools feature high levels of ethnic diversity, characteristic of the San Francisco Bay Area, reported as 54% Latino, 18% black, 10% Asian, 10% white, 6% Filipino and 2% multiracial. The district notes that its student body includes speakers of more than 50 languages.
