Michelle Obama’s brother and wife settle racial bias lawsuit against University School of Milwaukee

Michelle Obama’s brother and daughter-in-law, Craig and Kelly Robinson, have settled and agreed to dismiss a 2022 lawsuit alleging their children were unfairly barred from attending Milwaukee University School.

The Robinsons alleged that their two sons were denied re-enrollment at the private school in retaliation for their disagreement with the school’s allegedly racist curriculum and treatment of students of color.

In response, USM’s lawyers said the school has the right to make admissions decisions. Headteacher Steve Hancock said in a letter that the Robinson children were denied enrollment not because of their parents’ specific concerns, but because of the way their parents communicated those concerns.

The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice Tuesday, Milwaukee County Circuit Court records show. This means that the case is permanently dismissed and cannot be returned to court.

No details about the agreement reached on October 8 were made public.

“The Robinson children have been exemplary students at USM. Both parties regret that disagreements between the Robinsons and the school have resulted in the Robinson children no longer being members of the USM community. The parties will have no further comment on this matter,” the statement said. joint statement by Robinsons and USM.

The lawsuit stems from the Robinson family’s allegations of a racist curriculum and treatment of students of color.

Robinsons called out the “bigger picture” of mistreatment of students of color

The Robinsons’ two children began attending University School of Milwaukee, a private school in River Hills, in 2016. The Robinsons’ lawsuit alleged that the school made a “vindictive and unlawful decision” when it decided not to renew their sons’ 2021 enrollment contracts. -22 academic year.

The legal complaint alleged that USM decided to “punish two exemplary students in retaliation against their parents for raising legitimate concerns about USM’s treatment of students of color and other underrepresented stakeholders at the school.”

The Robinsons’ parents said they began having problems with the school curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic, with their sons learning virtually from home. They said some class assignments were offensive to people of color, indigenous people and other underrepresented students, and responded by reporting their concerns to school officials.

The parents argued that the school promoted its commitment to diversity but failed to take steps to protect students of color from repeated incidents of racism directed at them by white students.

“We heard from a lot of people and realized that our situation was not unique and that this was a pattern of behavior,” Craig Robinson said in an interview. 2022 Interview with Journal Sentinel. “And as soon as we heard that, we felt a responsibility to do something more, because we would feel terrible if we just packed up and left.”

The school said the problem was with Robinson’s parents’ communication.

In a preliminary report, USM’s attorneys wrote that Kelly Robinson “has decided that she does not like the high school curriculum” and “does not respect or trust the high school teachers and administrators.”

The school told Kelly Robinson that she engaged in “disrespectful and demeaning” communications with the school, court documents show.

Over 170 days of the 2020-21 school year, Kelly Robinson sent the school 135 emails and 350 pages of complaints, according to USM’s lawyers. As a result, the school spent “hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars,” according to the preliminary investigation report.

“Ultimately, Mr. Hancock decided that it was not in the best interests of the school to continue to devote resources to the Robinsons. The USM’s relationship with them was clearly irretrievably broken. It’s time to move on,” the school’s lawyers wrote.

More: Michelle Obama’s brother and wife sue University School in Milwaukee, alleging racial bias

Cleo Krejci covers K-12 education and workforce development as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci. For more information on Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa.

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michelle Obama’s brother and wife settle lawsuit against school