Utah School District Will Be Under DOJ Supervision For The Next 5 Years

The Davis School District will spend the next 5 years under federal oversight after a civil rights investigation found shocking instances of racial harassment and discrimination against Black and Asian-American students in the district.

An 11-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice outlines the results of a 24-month investigation that concluded there is ‘severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive race-based harassment in schools across the district’.

“Black students reported strikingly similar experiences throughout the District: white and other non-Black students routinely called Black students the n-word and other racial epithets, called them monkeys or apes and said that their skin was dirty or looked like feces,” the report says. “Peers taunted Black students by making monkey noises at them, touching and pulling their hair without permission, repeatedly referencing slavery and lynching, and telling Black students ‘go pick cotton’ and ‘you are my slave’.”

Federal investigators found the Davis School District had documentation to show there was ‘actual knowledge’ of at least 212 incidents in which Black students were called the n-word, and additional documentation to show harassment of Black or Asian-American students.

“We found that the district was deliberately indifferent to the racially hostile climate in many of its schools. Despite being on notice of pervasive racially hostile incidents across District schools, frequently the District ignored parent, student, and advocate complaints completely, dismissed them as ‘inconclusive’ even when corroborated by other witnesses or merely told the harassing students to not do it again, even when the student had harassed Black or Asian-American students previously,” the report says.

Several teachers in the district told investigators that they heard students use the n-word, but did not report it to administrators.

The report also documents an incident in October 2019 where a white student dressed as Hitler for Halloween and marched in a parade through an elementary school while performing the Nazi salute.

“No school staff stopped him or reported his costume and behavior to school administration,” the report says.

The report also found instances of racial harassment involving district staff.

“One school received a complaint that a teacher constantly ridiculed a Hispanic student and taunted him for working at a taco truck (though the student did not). An administrator interviewed other students who confirmed that the teacher ‘openly picks on certain students’. Yet, the administrator took no steps to remedy the hostile environment,” the report says.

As part of the agreement with the DOJ, the Davis School District will have to create a new ‘Office of Equal Opportunity’ and hire staff to oversee compliance. The District is also required to hire a consultant review harassment policies and address discriminatory discipline.

“We have to look at policies, practices, no question about it. It is really hard to read and we have to do better. We will do better,” Davis School District spokesperson Chris Williams told 2News.

Williams added that the District was not aware of all of the incidents of harassment that were found by the investigation. In a statement the District said the findings do not reflect values of the community and the expectations of the district.

“The district pledges to correct these practices this important work begins immediately and will continue over the next several years. Within the next 30 days, the district will share additional information with parents, staff, and students outlining the initial steps it will take to implement the needed changes,” the statement reads.

The DOJ investigation began after parents, including Shauntel Black, said their complaints about racial harassment of their children led to no action.

“We’ve never had an experience where people have been held accountable for racism,” Black told 2News. “[My son] had incidents where he was singled out by teachers. It’s been traumatic students for students of color.”

Black called the DOJ report ‘validation’.

“It’s been a long time coming,” she said.

https://kutv.com/news/local/davis-s...ly-indifferent-to-racial-harassment-doj-finds

 

a 10 y/o girl that attended a school in this district who was black and autistic just committed suicide due to the bullying she received

The family of a 10-year-old girl who died by suicide has accused a Utah school district that was recently reprimanded by the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to address widespread racial discrimination of not doing enough to protect their daughter who they said was bullied for being Black and autistic.

Salt Lake City police confirmed this week they are investigating the weekend death of Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor as a suicide. Her death has generated widespread outrage, including Wednesday from Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, who called the case “sickening.”

Tyler Ayres, an attorney representing Izzy’s family, said Izzy was bullied by a small group of other students who called her the N-word, told her she was smelly and made fun of her for being autistic. Ayres said the family reported the bullying to teachers, as well as school and district administrators, but nothing was done to stop the harassment.

“We don’t take umbrage with the children,” Ayres said in a phone interview. “We take umbrage with the adults who chose not to do anything about it. The adults who were in charge there should have taken these kids aside.”

Ayres said the family is “completely distraught” and also concerned for Izzy’s younger siblings who attend the same school and have experienced similar bullying from students.

Shauna Lund, a spokeswoman for Davis School District, said Foxboro Elementary School in North Salt Lake “worked extensively with the family” and that the administration responded appropriately to the reports of bullying. Lund declined to share any further details to uphold the family’s privacy.

“We, like everyone, are devastated by the death of this child,” Lund said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the family. Foxboro Elementary has worked extensively with the family and will continue to provide help to them and others impacted by this tragedy.”

Several hundred people gathered at a vigil Tuesday night to remember Izzy.

Izzy’s death comes about two weeks after a federal civil rights investigation found widespread racial harassment of Black and Asian American students at Davis School District, including hundreds of documented uses of the N-word and other racial epithets over the last five years.

Black students throughout the district told investigators about similar experiences of white and non-Black students calling them the N-word, referring to them as monkeys or apes and saying that their skin was dirty or looked like feces, according to the department’s findings. Students also made monkey noises at their Black peers, repeatedly referenced slavery and lynching and told Black students to “go pick cotton” and “you are my slave.”

District officials admitted to federal investigators that their discipline data from at least four years revealed that staff treated students of color differently than white students, but the district did nothing to correct these disparities, according to the department.

The district acknowledged in a statement the investigation revealed incidents that “were not handled appropriately” and pledged to resolve any previous complaints. Black and Asian American students are each roughly 1% of the approximately 73,000 students enrolled in the district north of Salt Lake City.

Jeanetta Williams, president of NAACP’s tri-state conference area of Idaho-Utah-Nevada, is waiting to find out more from the school district’s investigation to make any sweeping assessments but said the tragic case illustrates how bullying is a serious and pervasive issue around Utah and the country.

“It’s time that everybody look at their situations within their school district and make sure they are adequately addressing bullying, that they are adequately addressing discrimination and making sure that every student feels safe,” Williams said.

https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/f...by-students-for-being-black-and-autistic/amp/