POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — In a letter to Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Frederick Heid, the U.S. Department of Education states its Office for Civil Rights is “deeply concerned that the District may be discriminating based on race.”
The concerns stem from the school district’s partnership with Latinos In Action, a college and career readiness program offered at at least three Polk County high schools in Davenport, Haines City, and Kathleen.
The letter states “Latinos In Action” excludes students based on race and engages in “racial balancing.”
It cites as an example a question on the organization’s FAQ page that asks “Is this class only for Latino students?” and the response is “80% of the class must be Latino. 20% of students may be from any other racial/ethnic background.”
“This is prohibited racial balancing,” the letter states.
As of Oct. 13, that question is not on the Latinos In Action’s website.
The organization did not respond to News Channel 8’s request for comment Monday.
“The district will work to ensure compliance with the federal mandates,” reads a statement from Polk County Public Schools spokesperson Kyle Kennedy. “In the event the class is removed we will convert it to a leadership course allowed by FLDOE, and remove any LIA content or references from the syllabus. LIA may be allowed to continue as a club so long as it meets all federal and PCPS requirements to do so.”
The club may not restrict access to non-Latinos, Kennedy said.
“It’s not just Polk but other districts were threatened with federal dollars being pulled if they did not pull these programs,” said Stephanie Yocum, president of the Polk Education Association. “I’m not actually even faulting Polk County Public Schools. They have to do what they have to do to maintain funding at this point.”
Yocum said students benefit from seeing themselves in their learning.
“They can see themselves represented, not just in their learning, but in people of leadership,” Yocum said. “That is so powerful because then kids can dream and kids can inspire to be like, I can do this. And they can see themselves in these roles.”
According to Polk County Public Schools, 42.6% of its students are Hispanic.
“I didn’t have it in my school system. I wish it would have been around,” said Octavio Hernandez.
Hernandez moved to the United States from Mexico in 1987.
He said he spent a decade teaching in Polk County Public Schools and is now running as a Democrat for Florida House District 51.
“Little by little, they’re eliminating the true story of our community, especially here in central Florida where we have such a vast variety of hispanic culture,” Hernandez said. “They’re telling us what we can and cannot teach at a state level and it’s horrible because regardless of what you believe about the education system, if it’s good or not, every community’s different.”
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