NewsChannel 15 has learned the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has an open investigation in Florence School District One.
The office is looking into allegations that an assistant boys' basketball coach discriminated against a 16-year-old player.
The teenager's parents filed a complaint with the O.C.R. in January.. after an internal investigation of the allegations by the school district found no wrong doing by the coach.
The teen's parents say the incident happened in December during basketball practice at South Florence High School. There are three allegations the O.C.R. is investigating: if the coach pushed the 16-year-old during practice because of his skin color, if the coach cut the teen's playing time - giving it to a less-qualified white athlete, and if the coach failed to notify black parents about a Basketball Booster Club meeting.
The boy's father, Greg Daniels, contacted the O.C.R. because he wasn't satisfied with the district's investigation. "I think it's a very serious allegation. For my son to come home and say the he felt he was handled in a way that they were trying to hurt him, I had to take it seriously and I was hoping the district would do something, but after they didn't, you know, I had to do what I had to do as a parent," said Greg Daniels.
Florence District One Superintendent Larry Jackson says the district is cooperating with the O.C.R., but he can not comment on it.
The O.C.R. hasn't said how long the investigation will take.
The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday it was stepping up its enforcement of civil rights issues in schools. The O.C.R. has not said if this investigation is part of that effort.
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