An elite Chicago private school at the center of a new Project Veritas undercover sting video offers affinity groups for children as young as 4 that White students are not permitted to attend, Fox News Digital has learned.
Francis W. Parker School went viral Wednesday after Project Veritas posted a video showing Dean of Students Joseph Bruno speaking to an undercover reporter about LGBTQ sex education at the school.
“I had, like, our LGBTQ+ Health Center come in [to the classroom],” Bruno said in the edited video. “They were passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students – talking about queer sex, using lube versus using spit.”
“They’re just, like, passing around dildos and butt plugs,” he continued. “And we had a drag queen come in to pass out cookies and brownies and do photos.”
Francis W. Parker School Dean of Students Joseph Bruno speaks to undercover reporter.
(Twitter screenshot/Project Veritas)
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The same school, which charges upwards of $40,000 in tuition, offers “Students of Color Affinity Groups (SOCA)” that meet once a month that are exclusively for pre-K-12th grade students of color.
“SOCA is open to all students in grades JK–5th Grade who self-identify as a student of color and who are interested in participating,” the school’s website states. “While the SOCA groups are only open to students of color, through direct, intentional programming within the curriculum in the Lower and Intermediate Schools, all students have the opportunity to consider their own racial identity and how it plays into their greater sense of self.”
“While white identity development is absolutely important to a child’s development, we know there are a number of factors in the racial identity development process of young children of color that can benefit from direct programming in a way that differs from that of white students,” it adds.
Francis W. Parker School Dean of Students Joseph Bruno speaks to Project Veritas.
(Twitter screenshot/Project Veritas)
The school’s website argues that “individuals in the United States are considering their racial identities as early as age three,” which is why affinity groups are needed for younger grades.
Nicki Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education, slammed the affinity groups as “immoral.”
“Segregating students by race at any age is immoral, but to do so to 4-year-olds — at a school that charges $40,000 per year, no less — boggles the mind,” she told Fox News Digital. “Rather than teaching small, innocent children to be kind to all people, authority figures who these and their parents trust are instead teaching students to view all human interaction through the lens of skin color.”
“Administrators at Francis Parker should be ashamed of themselves — and families should make their displeasure known so that this programming may end,” she added.
When reached by Fox News Digital, the school declined to address the affinity groups and only responded to the controversy surrounding Bruno. In a statement, the school appeared to confirm what Bruno said took place in the classroom and directed its criticism at Project Veritas, which it accused of misrepresenting his words.
Francis W. Parker School Dean of Students Joseph Bruno was at center of Project Veritas sting.
(Twitter screenshot/Project Veritas)
“Last week – at an industry conference – one of our employees was targeted by a member of Project Veritas and misled to believe he was conversing with another conference attendee over a coffee,” the school said. “He was filmed without his knowledge or permission while describing one example of our inclusive, LGBTQ+ affirming, and comprehensive approach to sex education. Veritas deceptively edited the video with malicious intent.”
“Parker administrators and Parker’s Board of Trustees support Parker’s programming, the strength and inclusivity of our curriculum, and the dedicated and talented faculty and staff that teach it,” the school said.
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Project Veritas posted an earlier letter purportedly from Principal Dan Frank to the “Parker Community” that accused the conservative group of “malicious” intent.
“We are sickened by this group’s deceptive tactics, their invasion during a People of Color conference, and their attack on the LGBTQ+ community,” Frank’s letter reportedly said.
In its response to Fox News Digital, the school did not deny what Bruno said or what he said happened in the classroom.
The school did not respond to questions asking whether the school will be offering further explanation for what took place in the classroom, or whether sex toys had ever been introduced by school staff in any classroom with students present.
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The school also did not respond to Fox News Digital’s question asking whether it was the school’s position that exclusion from affinity groups based on skin color alone is not a racist policy.