U.S. investigates Greenwich Board of Education
GREENWICH, Conn. --Complaints of disparities in Greenwich schools serving minority and white students have prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education.
Local officials, citing mold and health concerns, shut the Hamilton Avenue School that served the town's largest number of minority students. Students were sent to other schools, leading some parents to complain of disparities they discovered in the wealthy town's school system.
"It was only when our children were recently dispersed into other Greenwich schools that were gushing with beautiful resources like a fully stocked library and a computer lab that I realized how much our children were robbed of a proper elementary school experience," parent Mina Bibeault said in a complaint. "I find myself wondering, 'Why us?'
Officials of the U.S. Department of Education said they have evaluated the complaint and determined it warrants a probe. Jim Bradshaw, a spokesman for the agency's office of civil rights, said an investigation "in no way implies that the civil rights office has made a determination on the merits of the case."
Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg would not comment on the investigation. The school district is providing federal investigators with information such as the percentage of minority students, the age of school buildings and when they were refurbished or rebuilt and money spent on each school, she said.
In 2003, a mold infestation prompted parents to lobby for a new school. Two years later, the students were relocated to a modular building where they remained until March due to construction delays. Officials then discovered a mold infestation in the modular building, which they then shut. Students were sent to other schools.
Sixty percent of Hamilton Avenue School students are minorities, the highest percentage in the district. The school also has the largest population of poor students in town, with 40 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced price lunch.
Bibeault is among parents who have hired a lawyer and an environmental hygienist to investigate their concerns that school officials downplayed health effects of the mold.
Since 2003, Greenwich has been the subject of seven civil rights complaints, including the most recent, federal authorities say.
------
Information from: Greenwich Time, http://www.greenwichtimeonline.com 