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St. Cloud school board approves agreement to end discrimination investigation

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Oct 28, 2011 at 9:06 am

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) - The St. Cloud School Board has approved an agreement which ends an investigation into complaints that Somali students were being harassed.

The school district has denied it committed any civil rights violations, but agreed to take steps to ensure students are not subjected to a hostile environment.

ST. CLOUD SCHOOL DISTRICT SETTLEMENT: Read the agreement between St. Cloud School District 742 and the U.S. Department of Education over alleged harassment of Somali students; 20/25/11

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations lodged a complaint last year with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

The Minneapolis-based group said Somali students were subjected to harassment and discrimination and that the district did little to prevent it.

The district has agreed to better communicate its anti-harassment policies, among other things. No fines were levied and the district won't lose any state or federal funding according to reports.