Mountain Lakes School District Discriminates Against White Students: Lawsuit

A Mountain Lakes parent is claiming discrimination against his white son in a federal lawsuit filed against the school district and district leaders.

The parent, only identified as B.L. said since June 6, 2020 the district has created a hostile educational environment for his son and other students by “a campaign of open racial discrimination” within some of the programming.

The suit, filed June 6, said the district “forced a racial political ideology” on students, which violates students’ constitutional right not to be discriminated against because of their race or skin color.

It also claims that the district is force-feeding students an “ill-named ‘anti-racist’ agenda” while receiving federal funding for programming and teachers and administrators.

Mountain Lakes is a predominantly white community with about 75% of 4,472 residents identifying as white {snip}

The suit demands that the district not be allowed to apply or receive federal funds until it stops the accused “racially discriminatory practices” as well as stops supporting programs claiming white privilege and systemic injustices.

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, former Mountain Lakes High School Principal Frank Sanchez emailed parents condemning racism and included a pamphlet he wrote called “Seeking Justice from Reflection to Action.” The pamphlet suggested institutional racism existed within the school district, the lawsuit claims.

Ron Berutti, attorney for B.L., said that as far as he knows, there is no evidence of institutional racism at Mountain Lakes and there has never been an accusation of it against the district. He said that Sanchez’s comments potentially open the district up to liability.

B.L. said Sanchez also sent a video to students which he says was a “call to arms” and promoted concepts of white privilege, which the suit says is racial messaging.

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The suit claims the assertion of white privilege “constitute illegal indoctrination of racist tropes which are more suitable for a totalitarian ‘re-education camp’ than for a New Jersey public school.”

Berutti said the district should not be teaching that “skin color is a determining factor of what kind of person they are.”

“That is a falsehood that we claim is illegal,” Berutti said.

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