A federal judge in Chicago has trimmed a long‑running discrimination lawsuit against Evanston/Skokie School District 65 but left its core alive, keeping the district’s equity efforts under a legal microscope. In a June 24 ruling, the judge narrowed the case to a constitutional equal‑protection challenge aimed at the district’s race‑conscious trainings and programs. After years of back‑and‑forth with federal agencies and amended filings, the dispute now moves forward on that more focused question.
Judge Lets Equal‑Protection Challenge Move Forward
U.S. District Judge John Tharp ruled that parts of teacher Stacy Deemar’s complaint, including an equal‑protection claim, can go ahead, while he tossed several Title VI counts under federal civil‑rights law, according to Chicago Tribune. Tharp also found that Deemar does not have standing to seek prospective relief and limited her remedies to alleged past harms, which sharply curbs what she can ultimately ask the court to order.
Federal Probe And Legal History
Deemar first raised concerns with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in 2019, and OCR opened a Title VI investigation into District 65 in May 2025, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Education. The Southeastern Legal Foundation, which represents Deemar, filed an amended federal complaint in 2024 and has argued that the district’s trainings, affinity groups and some curricular materials stigmatized white teachers and students, according to Southeastern Legal Foundation.
What The Complaint Alleges
The filings describe staff and student exercises referred to as "privilege walks," race‑based affinity group sessions for staff, and lesson materials the complaint says associate "whiteness" with structural harms, according to the public docket. Those allegations and the amended complaint are available in the court record for Deemar v. Board of Education, as reflected in filings on the federal docket.
District Responds
District 65 officials said they are aware of the ruling and are reviewing the complaint with their attorneys, according to Chicago Tribune. The district’s published materials state that its equity policy is aimed at identifying and addressing disparities and structural barriers that affect student outcomes, and that it is not intended to single out individual staff members for adverse treatment.
Plaintiff’s Reaction
Southeastern Legal Foundation welcomed the decision, saying it aligns with the group’s long‑held position that separating teachers in meetings, trainings or affinity groups based on race runs afoul of constitutional protections. Executive director Kimberly Hermann stated that effect, and the organization has posted its complaint materials and related documents online to back up the factual allegations in the suit.
Legal Implications
Tharp’s order draws on recent Supreme Court precedent that tightens limits on race‑based classifications when courts weigh standing and the scope of relief, a framework legal observers pointed to in the wake of the ruling. Separately, federal rules restrict private Title VI lawsuits over employment practices unless a program’s federal funding has as a "primary objective" the provision of employment, a constraint outlined in the Justice Department’s Title VI legal manual.
What Comes Next
The court has not yet set a future hearing or schedule, and the ruling leaves open the possibility of discovery if the case survives additional motions. Deemar is seeking nominal damages, a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, as laid out in the public complaint and docket entries.
Why This Matters Locally
The narrow ruling keeps in play a closely watched test of how far local school districts can go with race‑conscious training and curriculum before colliding with constitutional limits. For Evanston/Skokie residents, it means the legal fight over District 65’s equity efforts is not over yet, with more briefs, arguments and potentially depositions still to come.
