SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — An agreement between the Rapid City Area School District (RCAS) and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has been ended by the OCR.
In 2023, the Rapid City Area School District was investigated by the OCR for discrimination against Native American students.
RCAS Superintendent Nicole Swigart was placed on 30-day suspension in 2024, and the OCR said that Native American students were unfairly disciplined more often and had been discriminated against in advanced learning programs.
The OCR said that Swigart made “discriminatory statements” to the OCR during its investigation, such as that “certain Native American tribes, such as the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Tribes, do not commonly value education and inform their students that they do not need to graduate,” and stating that Native Americans view time differently, and that arriving two hours late is common. Swigart reportedly referred to this as “Indian Time.”
Swigart was fired by the school board in a 6-1 vote in August of 2024.
In the OCR’s 2024 letter to the RCAS, the office wrote that “OCR’s investigation raised concerns that similarly situated Native American and white students have been treated differently at the referral and sanctioning stages of the District’s discipline process and with respect to access, referral, identification, and selection for the District’s advanced learning programs and courses.”
The letter stated that OCR found that in the RCAS district, Native American students were disproportionately disciplined at higher rates compared to white students.
Discipline referral rates for Native American students in all District schools OCR analyzed for the 2021-22 school year were 2.06 times more than discipline referral rates for white students across all discipline referrals. Native American students were referred 4.57 times more than white students for in-school suspensions and 4.83 times more than white students for out-of-school suspensions. Native American students also received 5.49 times more truancy referrals than white students, 5.51 times more law enforcement referrals and 5.84 times more arrests than white students.
Excerpt from the 2024 OCR letter to the RCAS
OCR said they’d found no evidence indicating that the RCAS district had examined the discipline disparity themselves or took any action to evaluate whether discrimination “infects District practices.”
On the subject of advanced learning, the 2024 OCR letter stated that the office had identified “significant statistical disparities in access, referral, identification, and selection of Native American students compared to white students in advanced learning programs and courses.”
As an example, OCR stated that data from 2021-2022 showed that just 2.48% of all advanced learning middle school students were Native American despite Native American students constituting 18% of the total middle school population. White students made up 75% of middle school advanced learning enrollees despite comprising only 50% of the population.
The OCR also identified issues with the district’s eligibility requirements for advanced learning or AP courses, which they say were not addressed in the district’s formal written policies.
Central High School offered only four AP classes in 2021-22 while Stevens High School offered ten, and Central’s student population is 19.58% Native American while Stevens’ student population is only 3.58% Native American, suggesting both reduced access to such classes for Native American students and a lack of District-wide equity; AP students are not properly informed of the AP test fee structure including the option for fee waivers, which could contribute to the low numbers of Native American students enrolling in AP classes; student files reviewed by OCR lacked adequate documentation for OCR to determine whether the advanced learning opportunities are being equally made available to Native American and white students alike;
Excerpt from the 2024 OCR letter to the RCAS
As part of the agreement between the RCAS and OCR, the district was required to hire a staff member to focus on a positive school environment to help ensure it does not discriminate on discipline policies and procedures.
The district would also need to revise its disciplinary policies by February 2025.
That voluntary agreement has now been ended by the OCR.
In a letter sent to the district by the OCR on March 27, 2025, the office stated that the OCR is terminating the resolution agreement and any obligations of the RCAS under it.
The letter said the termination was the result of a compliance review to implement a prohibition on “discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, by recipients of federal financial assistance.”
The letter stated that OCR had now determined that many of the terms and conditions of the agreement “conflict with the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI, including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements that form the foundation of the Resolution Agreement.”
On April 3, 2025, the RCAS released a statement of their own.
As of April 1, 2025, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has terminated the Voluntary Resolution Agreement (Agreement) between the Rapid City Area School District and the OCR regarding the District’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically regarding discipline, truancy, and advanced learning opportunities for Native American students.
This directive from the OCR follows President Trump’s Executive Order on “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” which directs federal agencies to eliminate race-based policies in education, employment, and government programs. The District will follow the directives from the OCR and all applicable federal laws.Excerpt from the RCAS statement
In their statement, the RCAS also said they have invested substantial resources in complying with the terms of the now defunct agreement, and will continue efforts to support student.
“While political priorities may shift, our core educational values remain steadfast. Our mission remains to provide a safe, positive, and nondiscriminatory learning environment where all students can achieve their full potential,” said Acting Superintendent Dr. Cory Strasser, in the statement.
