The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint on Thursday accusing the Winner School District of discriminating against Indian students by subjecting them to harsher disciplinary practices.

The complaint [PDF] was filed on behalf of 14 families. It states that Indian students are disproportionately punished even though they make up only 20 percent of the school district's student population.

According to the complaint, Indian middle school students received 51 percent of in-school suspensions, 66 percent of out-of-school suspensions, 56 percent of all police referrals and 67 percent of all long-term suspensions in the 2001-02 school year. At the high school, Indian students received 65 percent of out-of-school suspensions and 67 percent of police referrals. The high school doesn't use in-school suspensions.

The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

Get the Story:
ACLU files complaint against Winner schools (The Rapid City Journal 6/24)
ACLU accuses school of bias (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 6/24)
ACLU says Winner school discriminates against Indian students (AP 6/23)
ACLU and Rosebud Sioux Tribe charge Winner school district with discrimination (KOTA 6/23)
South Dakota Schools Discriminating Against Native American Students, Charge ACLU and Tribe (ACLU Press Release 6/23)

Relevant Links:
Rosebud Sioux Tribe - ttp://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov