Lawsuits Pile Up in Loudoun County Battle Between School and Activists
Virginia | June 3, 2021
The Loudoun County School Board is being sued over its Equity Ambassador program. Scott Mineo, founder of activist organization Parents Against Critical Theory (PACT), has said the program is discriminatory. Now, Mineo, Loudoun County Republican Women’s Club President Patti Menders, and several anonymous plaintiffs are suing the school board.
“Loudoun County’s policies are extreme and divisive. Every student has a right to express his or her views and to engage in a respectful, robust conversation about real issues without fear of retribution,” Liberty Justice Center Senior Attorney Daniel Suhr said in a press release Wednesday.
Equity Ambassadors are part of the Loudoun County Public School’s Action Plan to Combat Systemic Racism. Each school selects two to three student leaders to meet several times a year.
“Stories and experiences will be reviewed and shared by the Supervisor of Equity and Student Equity Ambassadors during regularly occurring student Share, Speak-up, Speak-out meetings,” a Student Equity Ambassador Packet states. “The student leaders will be responsible for amplifying the voice of Students of Color by engaging in discussions about student stories/experiences regarding issues of racism, injustice and inequity.”
The lawsuit states, “In the name of ‘dismantling systemic racism,‘ LCPS has implemented explicit racial distinctions between its students. The official LCPS ‘Action Plan to Combat Systemic Racism’ creates a new position of ‘Student Equity Ambassador’ (‘SEA’), which is limited to certain students on account of their race, and discriminates against students on the basis of their viewpoint. “…
(Excerpts from The Virginia Star)