ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Hazelwood School District on Tuesday accused Missouri’s top lawyer of spouting falsehoods, disrespecting school districts and leveraging an “obvious racial bias against majority-minority school districts.â€
In a letter sent to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the district lambasted Bailey’s claims that “radical DEI programs†in the district are to blame for a brutal after-school brawl this month that left a student hospitalized with brain injuries.
“It is disappointing to have an attorney general that intentionally disrespects public school district administrators and elected officials by sending error-filled correspondence to intimidate and threaten their leadership,†wrote Cindy Reeds Ormsby, an attorney representing the school district.
The letter was a response to Bailey’s announcement on Friday that he was investigating the district’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs amid fallout from the fight. But it was unclear why Bailey thought the fight — which appeared to involve a Black attacker and a white victim — was related to the school’s DEI practices.
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Video of the fight went viral, and some online pointed to race as a factor. But neither police nor the school district have said race played a role.
“It is surprising that you are opening an investigation based on lies that you could have easily ascertained if you would have taken a few minutes to fact check prior to sending your correspondence,†the district wrote. “However, I am not surprised that you continue to politicize your appointment to the office of Attorney General by spouting falsehoods that only serve to rile your base without complying with the Rules of Ethics to which you are bound.â€
The school district corrected several errors in Bailey’s announcement and letter to the district, including the date and time of the fight. Bailey incorrectly said the fight happened “during the middle of the school day†on March 11, but it happened after school on March 8. A on Bailey’s website still includes the wrong date and time.
Hazelwood’s letter also questioned why Bailey set his focus on the district when others in north ºüÀêÊÓƵ County have also experienced issues with school violence — one of which resulted in the recent death of 14-year-old Justin Brooks in Jennings. And last month, at McCluer North in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, several fights in one day put the building under “precautionary lockdown,†with in-person classes canceled the next day.
“Is that because you have assumed, without official verification, that the March 8 altercation was between a white student and a Black student, while the other incidents were Black-on-Black student or student/teacher encounters?†the letter read. “Do you value white students’ safety more than Black students’ safety?â€
Hazelwood’s letter marked the latest example of a school district firing back after Bailey jumped into culture war issues in schools. In several of those cases, the districts argued Bailey’s claims were not rooted in fact.
In February, for example, Bailey sent a cease-and-desist letter to Parkway School District after he claimed the district was preventing students from forming religious-based clubs like Fellowship of Christian Athletes. When pressed for details by an attorney for the district, a staffer in Bailey’s office said a student had been denied an opportunity to start an FCA club at Parkway South, according to a letter to Bailey from attorney Margaret Hesse.
But the school already had an FCA club, as did the district’s other three high schools.
In Hazelwood, Bailey claimed on Friday the district had no school resource officers, which he said was partly to blame for the fight even though it happened off school grounds.
“The absence of SROs on the scene is directly attributable to Hazelwood’s insistence on prioritizing race-based policies over basic student safety,†Bailey wrote in a letter informing the district of his office’s investigation.
But Ormsby, the lawyer for the district, said the district does have SROs.
Hazelwood School District has schools in three jurisdictions: ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, Florissant and Hazelwood. The district has a contract with Hazelwood to put SROs in schools that are within Hazelwood’s city limits, according to the letter.
For schools outside of Hazelwood — like Hazelwood East, the high school attended by the two girls involved in the fight — the district has more than 60 security officers and security monitors, Ormsby wrote.
Hazelwood’s letter noted that SROs would not have prevented the fight in question, as it happened about a quarter-mile from the school.
And a large part of Hazelwood’s letter chastised Bailey for what the district said was a politically motivated investigation. Ormsby questioned if the attorney general believed the fight was really a racial issue caused by Hazelwood’s “belief in the importance of DEI for all.â€
About 80% of Hazelwood’s student population is Black, according to 2021 data.
“Do you understand that without equity, there is inequity and without inclusion, there is exclusion?†read the district’s letter. “It is the Hazelwood School District and its Board’s expectation that you use your position and resources honorably, to ensure that all Missouri citizens are regarded and treated equally.â€