DENVER — Investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice will be in Colorado next week to conduct interviews as they probe the Douglas County School District’s response to racial discrimination, harassment and bullying of students — as well as the district’s use of seclusion and restraint against children with disabilities.

The investigation by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which has been quietly underway for at least a year, is partially in response to a 2023 federal lawsuit filed by the families of four Douglas County students of color who alleged the district and its leaders violated the children’s rights to an equal education by exhibiting “callous indifference” toward extensive racist bullying at school, their attorney, Iris Halpern, told The Denver Post.

Lacey Ganzy, the mother of two of the students in the lawsuit, said she has been interviewed by the DOJ as part of its investigation multiple times over the past year. Now, she said, the Civil Rights Division is opening up its probe and seeking further input from parents, students and the community.

“We are excited for some accountability,” Ganzy said. “I feel like the district is starting to get scared.”

In a statement Friday, Douglas County School District spokeswoman Paula Hans did not acknowledge the DOJ investigation or the complaints behind it. She said the district’s focus is on taking care of every student.

“Any student or parent who has a concern should report it immediately to their school leader or DCSD’s Compliance Office,” Hans said. “We take every concern very seriously as we are dedicated to ensuring that all of our students and staff experience a welcoming and caring environment in our schools.”

Representative from the Justice Department did not respond to multiple messages left since Thursday seeking comment on the investigation.

In an email Ganzy received from the DOJ this week, the agency said investigators will be in Douglas County next week and can meet in person Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, or via Zoom or phone call. People who would like to share their experience can reach the DOJ by emailing community.dcsd@usdoj.gov or calling 888-394-6317, the email states.

The email confirms the the Civil Rights Division is investigating the district response to bullying and discrimination of students “based on their race, national origin, religion or disability,” as well as its use of restraint methods and seclusion against students with disabilities.

“We would like to hear from parents, students and other community members about their experiences with discrimination, harassment and bullying in the school district,” DOJ officials wrote in the email, which was reviewed by The Denver Post. They stressed “parents, students and community members are not under investigation.”

The 2023 lawsuit, filed by Halpern on behalf of families with students who attended Castle Rock Middle School and Douglas County High School, named as defendants the Douglas County School District, its elected school board and Castle Rock principal John Veit. The teens were unnamed in the complaint because they are minors.

Halpern confirmed two of the teen plaintiffs were Jeramiah Ganzy and his sister Neveah Ganzy, who previously told The Post about racist bullying so egregious it prompted Jeramiah to finish his school year online and the family to flee Castle Rock.

Lacey Ganzy said her son remains in online school and in therapy three days a week as a result of his treatment by the district.

The students faced racist taunting by their peers, including being told to “go back to the plantation, you cotton-picking monkey,” the lawsuit alleged. Students took pictures of one of the plaintiffs using the restroom at school and circulated the photos online, the lawsuit said. The incident prompted the victim to refuse to use the restroom at school, affecting his health, the lawsuit said.

All three student plaintiffs at Castle Rock Middle School reported the racist bullying, the lawsuit said, but only faced retaliation by students.

“These DOJ ‘pattern or practice’ investigations should send a warning to the Douglas County School District that it needs to protect and support its minority students, revise its policies, ensure equal access to educational opportunities and stop treating students as pawns in its politicized culture wars,” Halpern said.

The Justice Department’s investigation of the district’s use of seclusion and restraint stems from a 2022 complaint filed with the Civil Rights Division by attorney Emily Harvey of Disability Law Colorado, she told The Post.

That complaint alleged an 8-year-old boy at Wildcat Mountain Elementary School in Highlands Ranch who qualified for special education services for “serious emotional disability” was frequently subjected to seclusion — isolated in a closed room — by district staff during the 2021-2022 school year.

The complaint stated there is evidence to suggest students in similar situations were also subjected to the use of restraints and seclusion, denying them equal access to education and violating the Americans with Disability Act.

The Colorado Department of Education filed a state-level complaint over the same case, ordering the Douglas County School District to remedy its seclusion and restraint policies to bring them into compliance with state law.

“Children are hurt both physically and emotionally when they are restrained and secluded at school,” Harvey said in an interview. “It is time to revisit these practices. We applaud the DOJ for taking our complaint seriously and visiting Colorado to speak directly with impacted families. We hope this investigation will lead to lasting changes in DCSD and throughout the state of Colorado.”

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has four open investigations into alleged disability discrimination at Douglas County schools.

They include 2022 and 2024 cases around Free Appropriate Public Education, or the right for students with disabilities to receive education; a 2024 disability harassment investigation; and a 2024 denial of benefits claim.

Those cases are listed on the Department of Education website, but further details about them were not publicly available.

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