DECATUR, Ga. — A conservative group focusing on labor and education policies has filed a federal civil rights complaint with the Office for Civil Rights against the City Schools of Decatur, claiming the district violated Title IX and Title VI through its equity policies.
The complaint accuses the district of allowing students to use bathrooms based on gender identity rather than sex assigned at birth, permitting transgender students to participate in sports, making policy decisions based on race and promoting resources related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Defense for Freedom Institute, which filed the complaint, is led by former U.S. Department of Education officials Robert S. Eitel and Jim Blew, who served in the first Trump administration under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
The complaint was written by Paul Zimmerman, senior counsel for policy and regulatory affairs at DFI.
According to DFI, the complaint was filed June 24. The 132-page document claims CSD’s policies and practices discriminate on the basis of sex and race.
A City Schools of Decatur spokesperson, however, said the district has not yet received an official complaint.
“The district takes all concerns seriously and will look into the details if an official complaint is received,” the spokesperson said.
The organization called for OCR to investigate and withdraw federal funding if the district does not change or rescind its policies and practices.
“We ask OCR to investigate these policies and practices, described in more detail below; consider potential sanctions against CSD as authorized under Title IX and Title VI; and place CSD on clear notice that failure to comply with these federal laws in its policies and practices will result in the withdrawal of federal funding,” Page 2 of the complaint said.
In a statement sent to Decaturish, Zimmerman said he hoped the complaint would lead to changes in district policies.
“It is up to that office to determine the next steps, but district leaders should know that they cannot get away with hiding racism and sexism, hoping to deflect enforcement of our country’s civil rights laws,” he said. “As with other complaints DFI has filed, several of which have resulted in investigations and findings of violation, we hope our efforts will lead City Schools of Decatur to reject, openly and unequivocally, the district policies and communications we have identified that promote unlawful discrimination.”
According to DFI’s website, the complaint is based on a recent 42-page report, also published by Zimmerman, titled “All the Woke We Cannot See,” which examines CSD’s past equity practices and how the district responded to the Trump administration’s directives against diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Both the complaint and the report focus on policies and specific incidents that occurred between 2021 and early 2025.
The complaint lists multiple allegations, including an examination of a CSD equity newsletter published from 2022 to 2023, a CSD equity website taken down in early 2025 and decisions under the district’s past two superintendents, Maggie Fehrman and Gyimah Whitaker.
In April 2025, the district faced pressure from Trump administration directives requiring school districts to remove equity policies or risk losing about $3 million in annual federal funding. In response, the district rescinded five policies, drawing strong community opposition. Multiple board members said they felt compelled to comply under federal pressure.
Three of the five policies were reinstated two weeks later following court-issued preliminary injunctions against the Trump administration’s executive orders.
OCR has not announced whether it will investigate the district.
This story was provided by WABE media partner Decaturish.
