Who does Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey really represent? That's one of the questions raised by an attorney for the Hazelwood School District in a scathing fact-check correcting the AG’s recent bid for attention.
Bailey announced last week that he is opening up an investigation into the St. Louis County school district's diversity, equity and inclusion practices following a viral video that captured the brutal beating of 16-year-old Kaylee Gain by another student.
The video of Gain being repeatedly slammed into the concrete quickly spread through conservative and right-wing media outlets, most notably by Libs of Tiktok, which is known for its anti-DEI agenda. Gain suffered traumatic brain injuries and the teen who assaulted her is facing charges.
The assault occurred on a residential street near Hazelwood East High School, spurring Bailey to investigate how the district’s “radical DEI programs resulted in such despicable safety failures.” (Never mind that, as the RFT’s Ryan Krull reports, the only connection between DEI policies and the attack is county police officers’ failures to cooperate with them, leaving students without the presence of school resource officers.)
Cindy Reeds Ormsby, attorney for the district, penned her no-holds barred reply to Bailey in a letter dated March 26.
“It is disappointing to have an attorney general that intentionally disrespects public school district administrators and elected officials by sending error filled correspondence to intimidate and threaten their leadership,” Ormsby writes. “It is surprising that you are opening an investigation based on lies that you could have easily ascertained if you would have taken a few minutes to fact check prior to sending your correspondence.”
Ormsby proceeded to fact-check the integral points of Bailey’s announcement, even correcting the day and time at which the fight occurred. The fight actually occurred on March 8, not March 11 as Bailey claimed, and certainly did not take place “in the middle of the school day,” instead it happened after school hours a quarter-mile away.
Additionally she provides facts and information relating to the number of school resource officers serving the district, noting that they would not have been able to prevent the fight considering that it took place off school property and after school hours.
Finally, she notes that his idea of investigating this as a diversity, equity and inclusion matter is … an interesting choice.
“The Statement of Solidarity you refer to in your correspondence is not board policy. You have failed to identify a single ‘race-based policy’ that has led to the absence of [school resource officers] and how such policy was prioritized over student safety,” she writes.
Ormsby mentions in the letter that other districts, including Riverview Gardens, Ferguson-Florissant and Jennings, have had brutal fights and even a stabbing that were not publicized in the same way and did not draw his ire.
“You did not send letters to those districts copying the news media about your concerns. Is that because you have assumed, without official verification, that the March 8th altercation was between a white student and a Black student, while the other incidents were Black-on-Black student or student/teacher encounters? Do you value white students’ safety more than Black students’ safety?”
Because the fight involved minors, and because those minors are students, they are protected under FERPA and Missouri state law and their information and findings from the police investigation cannot be released, Ormsby says.
“Therefore, whatever investigation you purported to conduct into this matter is necessarily incomplete and your determination to reach self-serving and inaccurate conclusions is dangerous and will likely be an embarrassment to you and your office when and if the facts become known to you and the general public,” she says.
Bailey’s allegations that the district has violated the Missouri Human Rights Act is a false narrative, she says.
“Do you represent all citizens of Missouri? Or only the white citizens? Your lack of care about the accuracy of the allegations you make, combined with your false assumptions about the security provided by the HSD could lead to the belief that you are not the attorney general for ALL Missouri citizens, but rather only for those that look and believe as you do,” Ormsby says.
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