According to the complaint, the East Lansing School Board’s September 2011 decision to close Red Cedar Elementary School, 110 Narcissus Drive, discriminated against students on the basis of race, color or national origin.

Red Cedar has the highest proportion of minority students in the district, according to spring 2011 enrollment numbers, and serves a large portion of international students with family ties to MSU.

Officials have maintained that the decision to close Red Cedar was not made based on race and that the decision was because of the school’s low enrollment trends and other census data.

A spokesman from the department said the case was closed March 7 after the complainant cited the unclear future of the elementary school given the city’s vote against a controversial $53 million bond proposal.

“The complainant’s wanting to really start fresh with a discussion about all the schools,” said Red Cedar PTA Co-President Liesel Carlson, who has been in discussions with the anonymous complainant. “I think there’s just uncertainty.”

The board passed a resolution Jan. 23 announcing the school would close regardless of the bond proposal’s outcome. The bond proposal would have renovated and reconfigured five of the city’s six elementary schools to accommodate the students misplaced from Red Cedar and address aging infrastructure concerns.

East Lansing School Board President Rima Addiego said the board’s January resolution still stands.

“Unless the board determines to act otherwise, that is still enforced,” she said. “The issue of Red Cedar is one issue — the issue of elementary structure … is a much broader issue.”

Addiego said the school board has discussed plans to look at other options for a new bond proposal and school restructuring, but no decisions have been made yet.

Carlson said she recognizes the district’s need for facility upgrades, but said there are solutions other than closing Red Cedar that could lead to a better outcome for the community.

“The choices that we make need to be driven by what is best for our students,” she said. “I do have hopes that this community will come together — I feel that all of us have the best interests of students at hand.”