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Colorado school district in the hot seat for allegedly factoring in race for disciplinary procedures

Published

2 months ago

December 22, 2025

Colorado school district in the hot seat for allegedly factoring in race for disciplinary procedures

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FIRST ON FOX: A conservative, Trump-aligned legal group filed a civil rights complaint alleging that a school district in Colorado is using race as a major factor when determining disciplinary procedures and has retaliated against administrators who attempt to push back.

America First Legal (AFL), founded by top Trump advisor Stephen Miller, filed a civil rights complaint asking the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to investigate Cherry Creek School District, alleging it is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In its complaint, AFL cites a specific instance in which a Black student and an Asian student commit nearly identical behavior, but only the Asian student was disciplined.

AFL also obtained undercover recordings of discussions between administrators that allegedly show them admitting that the district’s DEI chief has been interfering with disciplinary procedures on the basis of race. When an administrator tried to step in and call out this allegedly racist activity, the official was retaliated against, according to AFL.

“If a public school district can openly run discipline and employment systems through a racial filter, then the rule of law means nothing,” said Nick Barry, senior counsel at America First Legal. “This is discrimination, plain and simple. It is the soft bigotry of low expectations and should not be tolerated. The Department must intervene and restore equal treatment for students, educators, and families.”

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER ALLEGEDLY DISCRIMINATORY POLICIES

A Cherry Creek School District bus (John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the district for comment, but it declined to comment on the matter, telling Fox News Digital it could not say anything because the district had “no knowledge of” AFL’s civil rights complaint despite Fox News Digital transmitting a copy of the complaint to the district. AFL’s complaint was filed electronically with the federal government.

In late 2023, according to the complaint, the district’s Campus Middle School disciplined and suspended three female students after a video of them off campus over Thanksgiving break using variations of the N-word while under the influence of alcohol was submitted to the district. Two students, one White and one Hispanic, were allegedly depicted in the video using the racially charged language, while the third Asian female did not appear in the video and only recorded the encounter.

Meanwhile, a fourth Black female student at the middle school allegedly asked the Asian female student who recorded the encounter to send her the video, which the Black student then allegedly passed along to her sister, a Black student in the district’s high school, who, AFL said, subsequently posted the video on social media and tagged the White, Hispanic and Asian students’ social media accounts. The Black female student who passed the video to her Black sister also passed it to her mother, who then shared the video with the Rocky Mountain NAACP, according to the complaint.

Despite nearly identical behavior from the Asian female student and the Black female students in the district, only the Asian student was disciplined, AFL alleged. She got the same punishment as the two female students pictured in the video using inappropriate language, which included months of expulsion hearings that eventually culminated in her suspension from school, according to AFL.

“[The Black students involved] disseminated the video to a much broader audience than [the Asian student involved],” AFL’s complaint states. “Despite both [Black female students involved] engaging in materially identical conduct as [the Asian female student involved], the District did not impose any discipline. … After [the Black female students’] identical infractions came to light, former Campus Assistant Principal Dan Hanson instructed personnel not to address the matter in electronic communications due to concerns about public records requests and adverse publicity.”

LEAKED LESSONS FROM FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EDUCATION COURSE SHOW EXTREME LEFT BIAS: ‘JUST SO WRONG’

According to AFL’s complaint, one of the non-disciplined Black female students continued to exhibit behavioral issues, and undercover recordings it obtained involving discussions between district administrators show Campus Middle School officials admitting the district’s Equity Department interferes with the equal application of disciplinary policies.

Protesters in Michigan rally against President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI policies, denouncing federal rollbacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)

“[T]heir first instinct is implicit bias. So if, for example, [Redacted] is not responding appropriately to [the Black female student’s] concerns, it’s because [Redacted] has implicit bias towards a Black young lady, and that she does not know how to navigate the cultural identity of a Black young lady and that [Black female student involved] is talking to her like [she] talks to anybody,” Campus Middle School Principal Lissa Staal can allegedly be heard saying during a meeting with school leaders.

“This is just how [the Black female student involved] communicates. And that is culturally appropriate for [the Black female student involved] to communicate that way because that’s what is culturally appropriate,” Staal continued. “And that’s what is happening is that the Whiteness that is present in our building is looking at that in a punitive way … that we are attributing negative connotations to what is essentially, exactly, we’re calling her disrespectful or disruptive or defiant when she is just communicating in a culturally appropriate way.”

According to AFL’s complaint, school personnel said they had “no ability to enforce anything” against the Black female student who was continuing to act out because they would “lose every time,” since their “hands were tied” by the district’s DEI department.

The district also allegedly retaliated against former Dean of Students Pat Hogarty when he voiced disagreement with the district’s DEI priorities, according to AFL’s complaint.

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“In January 2024, Mr. Hogarty took part in the Courageous Conversations training. When faced with the topics of ‘What does it mean to be White?’ ‘What experiences define Whiteness?’ and ‘How do you identify?’ Mr. Hogarty stated that ‘he identifies as an American, that he loves his country, and that he believes it is the greatest country ever founded,’” AFL’s complaint states.

“Shortly after the training, Principal Staal informed Mr. Hogarty that the Equity Department’s Executive Director, Mr. Garcia y Ortiz, took issue with Mr. Hogarty’s failure to ‘acknowledge what people of color go through’ and refusal to ‘admit that America is systemically racist.’ Mr. Hogarty later learned that Garcia y Ortiz had referred to Mr.Hogarty’s comments in the training as having ‘racist undertones.’ Approximately a month later, Mr. Hogarty was informed that his position had been eliminated due to ‘budgetary reasons.’”

Due to the Cherry Creek School District receiving federal funds, it is subject to discrimination guidelines under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. AFL has requested that the Education and Justice departments investigate the matter further and implement any necessary remedial action or referrals to enforce federal civil rights law.

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San Francisco, CA

Floats for San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade get finishing touches

Published

46 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Floats for San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade get finishing touches

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — ABC7 Eyewitness News got a sneak peak as crews put the finishing touches on the floats you’ll see at Saturday’s San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade.

Since it’s the year of the fire horse, you’ll see a lot of horses and fire symbolism on the floats, housed at Pier 19.

“So Year of the Horse, it’s energy, it’s passion, it’s momentum so a lot of things that we’re really hoping to embody in the new year,” said Stephanie Mufson, owner of San Francisco-based The Parade Guys, which designs and constructs the floats.

She said they’ve been building them for about three months, with the designs starting in November.

MORE: Bay Area artist brings Year of the Horse statue to life for Golden State Warriors

“We’re in the home stretch,” she said. “We’ve got a couple of days left and we’ve got a nice little team that’s cranking out all the finishing work that needs to go into it.”

Derrick Shavers was sanding some wood that will be painted and become cherry blossom trees on a float.

“It’s exciting,” Shavers said. “I look forward to coming every year and just creating and making things shine and sparkle.”

Bon was painting mountains for a float, making sure everything is perfect in time for the parade.

MORE: Meet the 2026 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade mascot, Maverick

“It’s one of the few parades that actually happens at night still,” Bon said. “So we got to make sure all the lighting is in check, and people are safe on the float. It’s all in the details, just for it to walk by you for 10 seconds.”

Ten seconds that bring so much joy to those watching the parade.

Here’s how you can watch the parade on ABC7 Eyewitness News on Saturday, March 7.

Coverage starts at 5 p.m. wherever you stream ABC7.

SF Chinese New Year Parade 2026: How to watch ABC7 Eyewitness News live coverage

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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Denver, CO

Grand Junction, Palisade reach Great Eight in Denver

Published

1 hour ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Grand Junction, Palisade reach Great Eight in Denver

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — The Class 5A Sweet 16 has arrived, and both Grand Junction and Palisade are still standing with trips to the Great Eight in Denver on the line.

At The Jungle, the No. 2 seed Grand Junction Tigers set the tone early against No. 18 Golden. Defense carried the Tigers from the opening tip as they held the Demons to nine first quarter points while scoring 16 of their own.

Grand Junction added eight points in the second quarter while Golden managed six, sending the Tigers into halftime with a nine point lead.

Golden responded in the third quarter, outscoring Grand Junction 16 to 11 to cut the deficit to five entering the fourth. The Tigers answered in the final period, attacking the rim and converting key shots to win the quarter 19 to 10. Grand Junction secured a 54 to 41 victory to protect its home court and advance to the Great Eight in Denver.

Top seeded Palisade also defended its home floor with a trip to Denver at stake. The Bulldogs opened with nine straight points to energize a packed gym, but Frederick settled in and closed the first quarter on a run to tie the game at nine.

Frederick continued to respond in the second quarter and took an eight point lead into halftime.

Palisade shifted momentum after the break. The Bulldogs tightened defensively, holding Frederick to 21 points in the second half while scoring 39 of their own. Palisade completed the comeback to advance to the Great Eight.

Colorado Mesa University Women Deliver Historic RMAC Tournament Win

In collegiate action, the top seeded Colorado Mesa University women’s basketball team defeated Colorado School of Mines 96 to 51 in the RMAC Tournament, marking the largest margin of victory in the tournament this century.

Olivia Reed-Thyne led the Mavericks with 34 points on 11 of 15 shooting, her third 30 point performance this season. Mason Rowland added 22 points and Hallie Clark contributed 10 as Colorado Mesa matched a program record with its 31st win. The Mavericks will host the semifinals Friday with a berth in the championship game at stake.

Colorado Mesa University Men Survive Overtime Thriller

The Colorado Mesa University men’s basketball team faced New Mexico Highlands University for the third time this season. The Mavericks scored 36 first half points and led by four at the break.

New Mexico Highlands shot 50 percent in the second half, received 21 bench points and outscored Colorado Mesa 43 to 39 to force a late push. With the season in the balance, Ty Allred hit a game tying 3 pointer to make it 75 and send the game to overtime. Allred scored seven points in the extra period as Colorado Mesa earned a 91 to 90 victory to advance to the next round.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.

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Seattle, WA

Seattle leaders mark 100 days until FIFA World Cup with artwork, security plans

Published

1 hour ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Seattle leaders mark 100 days until FIFA World Cup with artwork, security plans

The countdown to the FIFA World Cup hit a milestone Tuesday, approximately 100 days from the start of the global soccer tournament, which is being played this time in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Seattle is one of 16 host cities for the tournament, with the first game at Lumen Field scheduled for June 15.

Seattle-area hosts could net $3,800 as Airbnb eyes home sharing for FIFA World Cup fans

City leaders at a press conference on Tuesday described specific changes underway to welcome an estimated 750,000 people during the six matches, from adding new artwork in downtown to bolstering security.

“Our aim is actually to revitalize, reinvigorate, rejuvenate the downtown core,” Seattle World Cup Organizing Committee CEO Peter Tomozawa stated.

People who take a trip through downtown Seattle will see that part of that work has started in anticipation of the World Cup, with 53 colorful paintings on the columns of the monorail, showcasing the flags of the countries of the competing teams.

“In just 100 days, people will come back to Seattle and will be using the system to travel back and forth to various events related to [the] FIFA World Cup,” Seattle Monorail Services Megan Ching said.

“The visitors who are coming here for the World Cup are already booking their trips: where to stay, how to get around and what to explore,” added Jorge Gotuzzo with Visit Seattle.

Darkalinos restaurant hopes the events planned for Pioneer Square will convince new customers to return beyond the tournament.

“The summer season is what keeps us going,” General Manager Crystal Hernandez told KOMO News. “We’re going to have a beer garden in the plaza. There will be some live music outside.”

Behind the scenes, work continues to plan for crowd control and security. That means round table meetings and partnerships at the international, federal, state and local levels.

Iran’s participation in Seattle World Cup match up in the air following US strikes

“We’ve been working on the security plan for over three years,” Tomozawa explained. “We hired former SPD Chief John Diaz to design the plan and I have to say this is one of our highest priorities, for sure.”

Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes adds that businesses are eager to build on the success of the recent Seahawks Super Bowl parade. He said there will be watch parties for the matches at Westlake, Pacific Place and along the waterfront.

“Seattle’s a big event town, and we can do it well and produce a lot of joy for hundreds of thousands of people,” Scholes stated.

The World Cup Organizing Committee mentioned Seattle’s walkability makes it a great location for the tournament. It’s why they also announced a new walking path to connect multiple neighborhoods that will stay beyond the summer.

Seattle to host 4 free FIFA World Cup 2026 fan celebration venues starting June 11

It’s called the Unity Loop, runs about four-and-a-quarter miles and will connect the stadiums, waterfront, Seattle Center, Westlake and the CID, but no specifics were provided.

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