# Equity Advisory Council *Advisory body created in 2019 by Independent School District 112 (Eastern Carver County), [[Minnesota]].* The Equity Advisory Council is a body that Independent School District 112 (Eastern Carver County) created in 2019. It was one of several measures the district took after families filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit alleging race discrimination.[^1][^2] The project's at-issue record lists it alongside three other measures: an equity audit, a higher-level equity director post that replaced a staff equity coordinator, and required equity training for administrators.[^2] The lawsuit is *T.B., et al. v. Independent School District 112*, No. 0:19-cv-02414 (D. Minn., filed Sept. 3, 2019). It ended in a consent decree in March 2022 that imposes court-ordered obligations; the decree's terms are not in the record.[^1] The record does not document the council's membership, charge, meetings, or any output of the council itself.[^2] ## Who - **Created by:** Independent School District 112 (Eastern Carver County), after the superintendent apologized for the district's handling of the complaints.[^2] - **Plaintiffs:** the families named in *T.B., et al.*, who filed the federal suit against the district.[^1] ## What The at-issue record lists four district measures taken after the September 2019 filing:[^2] - the creation of the Equity Advisory Council; - an equity audit; - the replacement of a staff equity coordinator with a higher-level equity director; - required equity training for administrators. The record shows that the court-ordered outcome was a consent decree.[^1] ## When - **Spring 2019:** parents complained to the school board about racist bullying, according to the project's at-issue record.[^2] - **Sept. 3, 2019:** the federal suit was filed in the District of Minnesota.[^1] - **Fall 2019:** after the filing, the superintendent apologized and the district created the council and adopted the related measures.[^2] - **March 2022:** the case closed with a consent decree, about 30 months after the parents' first complaints.[^1][^2] ## Where The council belongs to Independent School District 112, the Eastern Carver County school district. The federal case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.[^1] ## How much In fall 2019 the district's $121.7 million referendum failed. The at-issue record describes it as the first referendum in the district's history to face organized opposition.[^2] The record places the referendum in the same season as the equity measures. It does not establish that either caused the other.[^2] ## In the at-issue record At-issue pair AI-Carver-077, in the project's Carver package, sets the district's own steps beside the documented outputs:[^2] - parental complaints to the board in spring 2019; - the federal suit in September 2019; - the superintendent's apology and the four equity measures, including the council; - the failed referendum in fall 2019; - the consent decree in March 2022. The pair rests on a single news source (startribune.com) and does not reproduce the article. The pair is anchored to the 2025 presidential order *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*, which the record uses as the federal frame for the sequence.[^3] The federal action against the State itself is separate from the district case. The [[United States Department of Justice]] announced it in release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026), titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^4] The complaint in [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]] (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) is brought under Title VII of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. It cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times, including subd. 3(c)'s requirement that an agency explain the reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^5][^6] The case is pending. The record does not connect it to Independent School District 112 or to the Equity Advisory Council. The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds Minnesota the only U.S. state so described. The catalogue sets the term beside usages such as the [[Iraq Liberation Act]] of 1998, which states a policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein."[^7] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Independent School District 112 (Eastern Carver County) created the council in 2019.[^2] ### When - The council was created after the federal suit was filed on Sept. 3, 2019.[^1][^2] - The consent decree in *T.B., et al.* followed in March 2022.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Plaintiffs' counsel news release (PR Newswire), *Chaska families … file federal civil rights lawsuit against Eastern Carver County School District* (2019), as carried in the validated dossier row CC1 (source grade unassigned): *T.B., et al. v. Independent School District 112*, 0:19-cv-02414 (D. Minn., filed 2019-09-03), consent decree March 2022, with court-ordered obligations. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chaska-families-represented-by-nichols-kaster-pllp-and-madia-law-llc-file-federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-eastern-carver-county-school-district-for-rampant-race-discrimination-300910956.html [^2]: Project at-issue record, *AT Issue Carver Claims Exposure Matrix* (Sept. 2, 2026), pair AI-Carver-077. Establishes the 2019 sequence: complaints, lawsuit, apology, creation of the Equity Advisory Council, equity audit, equity director, and administrator training; the failed $121.7 million referendum; and the March 2022 consent decree. The pair is sourced to startribune.com reporting, and the pack carries no article URL; the URL given is the pair's anchor. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^3]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (Jan. 2025). The presidential action named as the anchor of pair AI-Carver-077. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026). Establishes the release title and the Attorney General's certification. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^5]: U.S. District Court, D. Minn., *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (filed Jan. 14, 2026). Establishes the Title VII basis and the eight citations of Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^6]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. § 43A.191*. The statute text the complaint quotes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/43A.191 [^7]: U.S. Congress, *Iraq Liberation Act of 1998*, Pub. L. 105-338. Establishes the "regime" usage set against the project's catalogue finding. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ338/pdf/PLAW-105publ338.pdf