KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Shawnee Mission School District told the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month that it would not agree to a voluntary resolution agreement offered by the department in April.
At issue is a months-long legal battle between the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights and Student Privacy Office over alleged violations of Title IX and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
In April, federal investigators sent a Letter of Findings to several school districts in Kansas, including SMSD, the Olathe School District and the Kansas City, Kansas, Public School District.
READ MORE | U.S. Department of Education says 3 Kansas City-area school districts violated federal law
On Friday, May 8, officials in Olathe announced they had agreed to submit to the voluntary resolution agreement to “avoid prolonged disruption and financial impact.”
“The district trusts this resolution satisfies the Department of Education’s requirements and will allow Olathe Public Schools to move forward responsibly from this drawn-out political display,” the school district said in a press release.
Officials in Shawnee Mission said in a May 4 letter that the Letter of Findings and a draft resolution agreement contained “inaccurate statements of law, false allegations of fact, and unreasonable conditions required for voluntary resolution of this investigation.”
LINK | Read SMSD's letter
“Finally, the Resolution Agreement you have provided contains provisions that are inconsistent with the values that inform our work of supporting all children in our communities,” attorney Timothy J. Heaphy, of the Washington, D.C.-based firm Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom, LLP, said in the letter. “SMSD will not agree to the voluntary resolution agreement on the terms you’ve set forth.”
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