US Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights investigates GBAPS

Updated on 5/29/25 with GBAPS response

GREEN BAY, Wis (WGBW) – The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title VI and disability-discrimination investigation into the Green Bay Area Public School (GBAPS) District on Wednesday.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by a Green Bay mother and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), who allege GBAPS discriminated against an elementary school student with dyslexia based on race. 

WILL claims the District prioritizes special education services to students based on racial “priority groups,” a category that the student did not fall into because he is white. The complaint further alleges that the District discriminated against the student based on disability and failed to provide timely and adequate special education services. 

“In America, we do not ‘prioritize’ students for educational access, nor do we judge their worth, on the basis of skin color. Schools must provide special needs students access to supportive educational resources on an equal footing and on the basis of need, not on the basis of race,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “The Trump-McMahon Education Department rejects the false and patronizing idea that certain forms of discrimination are ‘benign.’ We will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that the Green Bay Area Public School District is not discriminating against its students on the basis of race and disability.” 

Cause of GBAPS investigation

In January, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported that Colbey Decker and WILL filed the complaint against GBAPS because a school success plan for King Elementary School in the district stated, “intentional work educating our focus students prioritizing additional resources to First Nation, Black and Hispanic students.”  It also alleges that the principal told Decker that the GBAPS “priority groups” receive services first.  

Decker’s son was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2022. He was enrolled in the GBAPS district last year. She says she provided documentation, requested support, and asked for one-on-one interventions since he enrolled. 

Civic Media reached out to the GBAPS District for comment. Lori Blakeslee, the district’s Director of Communications and Public Relations said, “We’ve have no comment as it is an ongoing investigation.”

“We are grateful to Secretary McMahon and the Office for Civil Rights for opening this investigation into Green Bay Area Public School District. It is heartbreaking to think that, in America, a school would consider whether or not to provide services to a disabled student based not on that student’s need, but on the color his skin. This is not only unlawful – it is an affront to the character of the American people,” said Cory Brewer, Education Counsel at Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty. “We are proud to work alongside the Department of Education to hold schools accountable for their antidiscrimination obligations and to ensure that no student is denied their equal opportunity protections under the law.” 

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits discrimination in federally funded education programs on the basis of race, color, or national origin.