Five of the 61 civil-rights investigations temporarily suspended by the Education Department following a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision last year involve allegations of discrimination in high schools, according to department documents made public this month.
The list of investigations placed “on hold” by the department’s office for civil rights was released by Representative Claudine Schneider, Republican of Rhode Island, during a hearing on a bill designed to nullify the effect of the Court’s decision in Grove City College v. Bell.
The Justices ruled in the Grove City case that the federal law barring sex discrimination in education applies only to those parts of a school or college that receive federal aid directly, and not to an institution as a whole. The Court has indicated that it construes federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, handicap, and age as similarly “program specific” in nature.
According to an ocr spokesman, the 61 investigations were suspended after department officials determined that the educational programs in question were not recipients of federal aid.
The spokesman added that four of the five cases involving high schools were reopened in November. One was settled in the complainant’s favor and another was dropped at the request of the complainant.
High-school investigations affected by the Grove City decision, the nature of the charges lodged against them, and their current status include:
Sag Harbor School District, N.J., sex discrimination in employee compensation. Investigation reopened in November 1984, case settled in complainant’s favor.
East Greenbush School District, N.Y., sex discrimination in athletics. Investigation reopened in November 1984.
Carmel School District, N.Y., sex discrimination in athletics. Investigation reopened in November 1984, case closed at the request of the complainant.
Addison Central School District, N.Y., sex discrimination in athletics. Investigation reopened in November 1984.
Ramapo Central School District, N.Y., discrimination against the handicapped in the provision of auxiliary aids. Case remains under evaluation.
In the first quarter of the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, the civil-rights office received 424 complaints, of which 62 percent involved allegations of discrimination in elementary schools or high schools.
