Education Department Investigating Paw Paw Public Schools

The American Civil Liberties Union is welcoming a decision by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate a complaint about racism at Paw Paw Public Schools. The ACLU sent a complaint to the department regarding what it calls “the pervasive racially hostile environment in the school district.” The Office of Civil Rights says its investigation will determine “whether the District effectively caused, encouraged, accepted, tolerated, or failed to correct a racially hostile environment for Native American persons at its high school.” If the OCR finds the school district’s practices violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the district could lose federal funding. Paw Paw Public Schools Superintendent Rick Reo has released a statement saying, “Paw Paw Public Schools is fully cooperating with the Office of Civil Rights investigation. We will continue to focus on educating kids and try to avoid letting the ongoing debate over the school mascot distract us from our mission or impact the high-quality learning environment we strive to create each and every day.”