A mother of two has gone to court to force her local school district to let her see and copy educational materials related to gender studies and diversity, equity, and inclusion training used in her children’s schools.
In the fall of 2021, Michigan resident Carol Litkouhi, a parent in the Rochester Community Schools (RCS) district, learned from a teacher’s social media post that some books being used in a new high school course on ethnic and gender studies could be a cause for concern.
When Litkouhi contacted the teacher for more information, she was told to go to the district’s director of diversity equity and inclusion, and the superintendent of schools.
The result was months of runaround, delay, partial cooperation, and outright denial, according to Litkouhi.
In a March 15 statement, Litkouhi said it was “incredibly disappointing that the district continues to refuse to be transparent and has stonewalled my efforts to learn more about what is being taught in the classroom.”
“Parents have a right to know what is being taught to our children,” she stated.
According to her complaint filed on March 14 in Oakland County Circuit Court, Litkouhi repeatedly asked school officials to see the materials.
She says she was given contradictory answers and insufficient information that did not reasonably address the topics requested.
Asking for more detailed information, Litkouhi was told she must submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which she did in December 2021.
Rochester Community Schools partially complied with the FOIA request, once again giving Litkouhi what the complaint calls “limited” information.
In January 2022, Litkouhi filed an appeal of the administration’s partial compliance decision with the district. Her appeal was denied on February 8, on the grounds that the school administration had provided all the documents requested and that no other relevant documents existed.
According to the complaint, Litkouhi did not accept the denial. She pointed out that a course called “History of Ethnic and Gender Studies” had been taught in the high school for more than six months.
She reasoned the course could not have been taught without employing at least some classroom materials, which she continued to request.
The complaint also alleged the district forbids members of the public from requesting curriculum materials directly from individual teachers and building administrators. Parents are required to seek the material from the central office.
It further alleged that the central office administration refused to acquire such records, materials, and information from its own schools, teachers, and administrators, in order to fulfill the plaintiff’s requests.
When the central office was asked by the plaintiff to provide those materials and documents, the administration replied it was not in possession of any such records.
According to the complaint, the people who have the desired records cannot be asked by a parent to provide them and the people a parent is required to ask for the desired records (central office staff) claim such records are not in their possession.
“Thus, the plaintiff is caught in a catch-22,” the complaint stated.
In a separate freedom of information request filed by Litkouhi on Dec. 27, 2021, she asked to see and copy training materials used by the district related to diversity, equity, and inclusion for the years 2020 through 2022.
On Feb. 11, 2022 RCS allowed Litkouhi to see the materials but refused to provide her copies of some of them—even though she paid a $400 deposit—due to alleged copyright concerns.
The summary states in part that RCS’s “refusal to do this significantly hinders the goal of FOIA, which is to provide all people with ‘full and complete information regarding the affairs of government … so that they may fully participate in the democratic process.”
Mackinac Center spokesperson Steve Delie said in a statement, “Schools must make curricula available to parents under Michigan law … It shouldn’t take months of back and forth, hundreds of dollars, and a lawsuit just to see what is being taught in your community.”
When Rochester Community Schools was asked to comment on the case, spokesperson Lori Grein, told The Epoch Times, “We wish we could discuss the complaint, but because it is in litigation, we are restrained from doing so.”
