LE ROY, N.Y. — The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) says students in the Le Roy Central School District were forced to mimic sharecropping and roleplay slaves during a lesson.
The NYCLU said in September 2025, students did a simulation at Le Roy where they traded pretzels while assigned roles such as “plantation owner,” “former slave,” and “sharecropper,” designed to demonstrate sharecropping as “a form of legalized slavery” and the “cycle of poverty.”
In a statement, the district said two investigations were done, one independently, and one by the district, after parent concerns of students being “forced into a game of slavery,” and terminology used in the lesson.
After the investigations and information from various students and staff involved, the district determined neither was true. The district says the lesson was focused on a state learning standard for the reconstruction period that students look at the effects of the sharecropping system on African Americans.
“The NYCLU narrative comparing this lesson to a simulated slave auction is unfortunate and misplaced,” the district said in the statement.
In response, NYCLU sent a letter to the district expressing concerns about the district determining there were no violations of the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) during the lesson.
“The District’s investigation attempted to exonerate the lesson by focusing on whether specific terms – “slave master” versus “plantation owner,” or “slaves” versus “former slaves” – were used. Terminology alone does not determine whether conduct is harmful,” NYCLU said in the letter.
The letter also said that the fundamental problem still remains, which is that “teachers assigned students to roles in a racial hierarchy and asked them to simulate an exploitative system that targeted Black Americans.”
At the end of the statement, the district said it “acknowledges the importance and sensitivity with which we must teach difficult historical topics involving discrimination and social injustices such as Black history, the Holocaust, Native American history, LGBTQ history, and women’s rights,” and that the district remains “committed to reviewing our teaching methodologies to ensure they align with best educational practices.”
NYCLU said it wants the district to acknowledge the simulation “created a racially hostile environment” despite whether specific prohibited terms were used, prohibit simulations that require students to take on roles based on racial hierarchies, offer appropriate restorative support or other system of racial oppression across and grades and classrooms, and train all staff.
Read the full statement from the Le Roy Central School District:
“The Le Roy CSD disagrees with the NYCLU’s characterization of the lesson at issue and the conclusions the District reached following an investigation of a parent’s concerns. Beyond the District’s review, an outside independent investigation was also completed. The lesson focused on a New York State learning standard for the Reconstruction period that students “examine the effects of the sharecropping system on African Americans.” The activity at issue involved the use of pretzels for contract negotiations to demonstrate the dynamics involved in sharecropping, the unfairness and injustice of this system, and the cycle of poverty it caused for African Americans.
The District’s review was initiated in response to a parent’s allegations regarding terminology used in the lesson and that students were “forced into a game about slavery”. Neither was found to be accurate based upon information from multiple students and staff present for the instruction. The NYCLU narrative comparing this lesson to a simulated slave auction is unfortunate and misplaced.
The District acknowledges the importance and sensitivity with which we must teach difficult historical topics involving discrimination and social injustices such as Black history, the Holocaust, Native American history, and women’s rights. As we communicated directly to the parent at the conclusion of the investigation, we remain committed to reviewing our teaching methodologies to ensure they align with best educational practices and providing professional development to prepare our teachers and, in turn, their students, for such instruction.”
Read the letter from the NYCLU sent to the district:
The post NYCLU challenges Le Roy CSD’s roleplay lesson, demands changes appeared first on WHEC.com.
