The U.S. Department of Education announced investigations into reports of alleged bigotry in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act at the Commack School District in Commack, N.Y., and Dorchester County Public Schools in Cambridge, Md.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stated that the reviews into discrimination claims involving shared ancestry began on June 10 and June 13, respectively. The OCR usually does not provide details about the origins of investigations.
The complaint against the Dorchester schools involves alleged discrimination based on religion.
On Nov. 14, Commack High School administrators found racist and antisemitic vandalism in a bathroom stall. The district also includes a middle school, two intermediate schools and four elementary schools.
Dorchester County off the Chesapeake in the eastern part of the state district features two high schools, two middle schools, six elementary schools, and a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school.