Atlanta woman files complaint alleging daughter’s school segregated students

A woman in Atlanta filed a federal complaint against her daughter’s school, alleging civil rights violations because it segregated Black students from their peers, according to NBC. 

Kila Posey, who is Black, said she learned that Principal Sharyn Briscoe of Mary Lin Elementary School was separating the school’s 12 Black second graders from their classmates last year.

Posey discovered the practice after discussing with Briscoe whether to put her daughter in the class of a certain teacher, to which Briscoe told her “that’s not a Black class,” NBC reported.

“First, it was just disbelief that I was having this conversation in 2020 with a person that looks just like me — a Black woman,” Posey told WSB. “It’s segregating classrooms. You cannot segregate classrooms. You can’t do it.”

Posey said she demanded that Briscoe put her daughter in a class with white students, and the principal responded that her child would be isolated, WSB reported.

“I explained to her she shouldn’t be isolated or punished because I’m unwilling to go along with your illegal and unethical practice,” Posey told WSB.

Sharese Shields, Posey’s attorney, said her client filed the complaint last month with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights and is alleging that Briscoe and the elementary school violated Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, NBC noted. The law prohibits discrimination, exclusion and benefits due to race, color or nationality in programs that receive government funding. 

“It’s a bit shocking that in 2021 that you would have a public school administrator engage in that practice, particularly given that administrator is a Black woman herself,” Shields told NBC.

Atlanta Public Schools confirmed to WSB that it has completed its investigation into the claims and has taken action.