MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A southern Minnesota school district is expected to vote Monday on a $1.1 million state grant meant to help curb drug use among students of color after a pair of board members delayed accepting the money by arguing it could discriminate against white students.
At least 5 members of the 7-person Faribault school board say they will vote in favor of accepting the funding when it comes to a vote Monday evening. In November, 4 of the board’s members had been deadlocked in a vote after 2 members argued that programs specifically for students of color were unfair to white students.
“Would we ever go after a grant that only targeted whites with hopes that it would trickle down to our BIPOC community? Would we do the opposite? And I don’t think we would,” Board Member LeeAnn Lechtenberg said at the meeting.
She, along with Board Member Richard Olson voted against the program.
The district serves Faribault, a city of 24,000 people. About 73% of the city is white, but it also has significant Latino & Black populations, including a Somali American community. More than 60% of the school district’s students are people of color.
A mother from the Somali community approached the school board last summer with concerns about drug use among youth in her community & the district applied for a $1.1 million grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to curb drug use among Black, Indigenous & other students of color.
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