WASHINGTON, D. C. – Since the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued its opinion last year supporting the legality of the Ron Brown College Preparatory High School and other portions of the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) Empowering Males of Color Initiative, we have met and spoken with the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capital (ACLU) on several occasions to discuss our respective views of the law. To this end, OAG had a call last Friday with the ACLU to respond to questions they posed about the initiative. Our office is disappointed that the ACLU has inaccurately characterized details of that conversation.

As DCPS has made clear, they have not made any policy change with regard to admissions to Ron Brown. Contrary to suggestions by the ACLU, OAG did not say that the admissions policy had changed, nor did our office say that DCPS has any plans to change that policy in the future.

Furthermore, the Attorney General has not changed his view that Ron Brown and other parts of the Empowering Males of Color Initiative are consistent with the protections of the Constitution and civil rights laws.