Fired Lakeville schools worker takes her fight to the feds
Ex-employee, district in dispute over access to integration plan records
By Bao Ong and Maricella Miranda, Pioneer Press
Article Launched: 05/22/2008 12:01:00 AM CDT
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The U.S. Education Department is investigating a complaint against Lakeville schools after a former employee said she was fired when she voiced concerns about how the district was developing an integration plan for students.

The department's Office of Civil Rights is reviewing the woman's allegation that the district refused to give her public documents and discriminated against her "on the basis of disability by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation" when she visited the district to review records.

A second complaint alleged the district retaliated against the employee after she questioned how state money was being spent. An Education Department official said Wednesday the agency dismissed that complaint this month.

The government notified the school district of its investigation in a February letter that compelled the district to turn over information.

The former employee has accused the Lakeville schools of sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars provided by the state to address integration concerns. The state ordered Lakeville to start working on an integration plan with the more diverse neighboring Burnsville school district in 2006.

Since the government contacted the district about the investigations, Lakeville has undertaken at least five integration-related programs or initiatives, including a revision by the school board of its overall discrimination policy. School leaders say the timing is coincidental.

The Office of Civil Rights and the district have not named the complainant, but former district employee Teresa Graham testified before a Minnesota House committee in November that she had filed complaints.
Records from the Lakeville Police Department also show Graham filed an incident report about what she said was the district's misuse of integration funds.

The police report includes Graham's e-mails to the Minnesota Department of Education informing the state she had filed complaints against the district with the federal government.

Police investigated her allegations last year but determined they were unfounded and closed the case, according to the report.

STATE-MANDATED PLANS

The Office of Civil Rights is investigating the case because the desegregation of schools falls under its jurisdiction.

Lakeville and the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district are instituting state-mandated integration plans because of a disparity in the number of minority students who attend adjoining school districts. In Burnsville, 31 percent of students are racial minorities, compared with 9 percent in Lakeville.

Minnesota law requires adjoining school districts with more than a 20 percentage-point difference in the enrollment of students of color to develop a joint integration plan.

The districts are supposed to use the integration programs — and the state money that comes with them — to even out the percentage of minority students.

In 2005, 80 districts across the state received money for integration-related activities.

Lakeville will receive $300,000 in state funding for the 2007-08 school year and $600,000 for 2008-09.

School districts tagged by the state must develop ways to increase diversity voluntarily. Steps can range from changing curriculum and intensifying teacher training to starting magnet programs to draw in new students.

Lakeville school officials hired Graham in October to spearhead integration efforts with Burnsville. They terminated her contract a month later, on Nov. 13, said Sara Ruff, the school district's attorney.

Ruff would not comment on the investigation, saying only that the district is responding to the complaints for the federal investigation.

She said the district's decision to fire Graham was "based solely on falsification" of her employment application — not because of any complaints about the integration effort.

Although Graham provided documents to the district, the records did not include three convictions in Hennepin County dating back to 1994, according to Ruff and the November termination letter the district sent to her.

The convictions were for harassing phone calls, violating a harassment restraining order and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault, according to court records.

Graham, 58, of Minneapolis, said she would not respond to "false accusations."

"I have been the target of an organized, calculated vendetta by the Lakeville school district and their attorney since the fall of 2007 as the direct result of filing complaints with the Minnesota Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights regarding their misconduct and questionable use of public resources," she said.

Officials with the civil rights office would not say when their investigation would end.

Since 2005, Minnesota schools have faced 237 civil rights complaints, according to the U.S. Education Department. Eighteen cases, including Lakeville's, remained open as of this week.

GRAHAM'S COMPLAINTS

Before Graham started the integration job, Lakeville police reported that they contacted her in August about what she said was the district's possible misuse of grant money to desegregate schools. She accused the district of doing nothing with the aid.

Shortly after she started in October, she said, she asked to review the integration program budget but said district officials denied her request, according to e-mails she sent to the state Department of Education.

Some school board members and community members opposed the plan, Graham wrote in the e-mail, saying district officials said they did not want to implement it until passing a levy referendum in the fall.

Graham filed a complaint with the state Department of Education via e-mail in November after Lakeville terminated her contract.

She also filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, saying the district retaliated by firing her. Graham filed a second complaint in January with the civil rights office, alleging the district did not provide her with public documents she requested.

The civil rights office dismissed the retaliation complaint after finding "insufficient evidence to support the allegation," a federal Education Department spokesperson said.

Ruff said the dismissal reaffirms that the school district is committed to following state and federal laws put in place to protect its employees and students.

Graham alleged in the second federal complaint, which remains under investigation, that the district discriminated against her on the basis of disability by not providing her with "a reasonable accommodation she requested" on Jan. 4 when she visited Lakeville South High School to review district records.

The complaint did not specify what Graham's disability was.

Her actions against the Lakeville School District are not the first time she has lodged formal complaints against schools.

In 2003, she sued St. Paul Public Schools, where she was a social worker. In her claims, which ultimately were dismissed, Graham said the district retaliated against her after she reported two cases of child abuse to authorities.

In 2000, Graham filed a complaint with the Plymouth Police Department alleging school officials of Intermediate District 287 in Plymouth threatened her while she reviewed documents in the district office. She was an employee at the time, and police found her allegations to be unfounded because there was not "sufficient evidence to make an arrest," according to the police report.

The officer ultimately served her with a trespass order banning her from the property.

INTEGRATION AT LAKEVILLE

The state required Lakeville to start working on an integration plan with Burnsville in 2006.

Although Graham accused the district of dragging its feet, the Minnesota Department of Education found "no intentional delay" in Lakeville's proposed desegregation plan, said Assistant Commissioner Karen Klinzing, in a January letter to Superintendent Gary Amoroso.

Graham said state officials never contacted her during their investigation.

"No one wanted to touch it with a 10-foot pole," Graham said about her allegations over the district's use of integration funds.

However, state officials told the district that because of the complaints, the state would check back with the district this month "to ensure satisfactory progress in its first year of implementation and, furthermore, that proposed activities were incorporated to meet the requirements of the desegregation rule."

"This is a vitally important initiative for Lakeville," Ruff said. "There's a real concern that something could distract from those efforts. That would be a shame."

But some Lakeville board members and parents have criticized and questioned the integration efforts at board meetings and in e-mails obtained by the Pioneer Press. One concern is the integration effort would drain the district's general operating fund — which is not the case, because the state provides the district with dollars set aside for desegregating schools.

"The residents of Lakeville are not aware of this proposed integration plan, or the opposition would be vocal and widespread," one parent wrote in an e-mail to the district.

District officials asked schools attorney Ruff in an April 10, 2007, e-mail what the consequences would be if they opted out of the integration plan.

But Amoroso said the community's support has grown as more residents learn about the program.

"I think people are realizing this is an opportunity to provide additional experiences for our students, which I believe will enhance the achievement level of our students," he said.

Since February, Lakeville has stepped up its integration effort. Leaders say the timing had nothing to do with the Office of Civil Rights' investigation.

Amoroso said, "Yes, you've seen things happen more recently," but only because of the natural timing of the program's implementation.

New programs and initiatives include:

Hiring a new integration coordinator.

Approving Advancement Via Individual Determination, a program to bolster achievement in students with average grades.

Starting a summer African and Japanese drumming class.

Completing a survey of parents, teachers and students about offering magnet programs to entice more minority students from Burnsville to the district.
Last week, the Lakeville School Board also passed new procedures on how to handle disability complaints.

Last month, the board revised its overall discrimination policy.

Bao Ong can be reached at 651-228-5435. Maricella Miranda can be reached at 651-228-5421.