A black Atlanta mom condemned her daughter's elementary school for segregating students by race, with black and white children taught ...
A black Atlanta mom condemned her daughter's elementary school for segregating students by race, with black and white children taught in separate classrooms.
Kila Posey, who filed a federal complaint against Mary Lin Elementary School, claims principal Sharyn Briscoe - who is also black - told her that she put the practice in place because she thought it was in the best interest of the students.
Recalling her conversation with Briscoe, Posey said: '(Briscoe) said that’s not one of the Black classes, and I immediately said, "What does that mean?" I was confused.
'I asked for more clarification. I was like, "We have those in the school?" And she proceeded to say, "Yes. I have decided that I’m going to place all of the black students in two classes."'
Posey then secretly recorded a phone call with an unnamed school administrator, who was captured saying: 'I just wish we had more black kids, and then some of them are in a class because of the services that they need.'
No further information on what 'services' the administrator was referring to have been shared.
Mary Lin Elementary School allegedly put black students in two separate classes with two separate teachers. The white students were reportedly placed in six classes with six different teachers.
Atlanta Public Schools told WSB-TV the district has concluded it's investigation into the allegations and has taken action. It did not deny the claims made by Posey.
Mother Kila Posey has filed a federal discrimination complaint against her daughter's elementary school after the principal allegedly segregated classes by race
Posey claims Principal Sharyn Briscoe (pictured) put the practice in place because she thought it was in the best interest of the students
'Atlanta public schools does not condone the assigning of students to classrooms based on race. The district conducted a review of the allegations. Appropriate actions were taken to address the issue and the matter was closed,' a district spokesperson said.
They did not specify what those actions were.
Meanwhile, Posey is still in disbelief.
'We've lost sleep like trying to figure out why would a person do this,' Posey told the news outlet. 'First, it was just disbelief that I was having this conversation in 2020 with a person that looks just like me — a black woman. It's segregating classrooms. You cannot segregate classrooms. You can't do it.'
According to Posey, she learned about the segregation when she requested her child be placed in a specific teacher's classroom, which only had white students.
She claims principal Sharyn Briscoe said her child would be isolated in the class.
'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 said.
Mary Lin Elementary School (pictured) allegedly put Black students in two separate classes with two separate teachers. The white students were reportedly placed in six classes with six different teachers
Posey contacted the assistant principal who allegedly defended the situation.
Posey has filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, arguing that the situation is a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
'Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that you cannot treat one group of people differently based upon race, and that is what is going on at Mary Lin,' said Sharese Shields, Posey's attorney.
The Department of Education is currently investigation the allegations.
Mary Lin's student body is 73 per cent white, 10 per cent black, with the remainder of its students coming from bi-racial backgrounds.
The school has a strong academic reputation and is ranked the 29th best elementary school in the state of Georgia, with 1,205 other schools behind it.
Test scores at the school are also high, with the average standard score 96.93 per cent in 2019, according to SchoolDigger data.
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