admin A household has filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Upland Unified Faculty District alleging that their three kids had been focused for racist footage and abuse by different college students in an elementary faculty.
The allegations come one week after a sequence of racist incidents at Pepper Tree Elementary Faculty sparked outrage from dad and mom.
In a precursor to a lawsuit filed Monday, Rome and Maylana Douglas allege that their three kids attending an elementary faculty “suffered bodily and irreversible emotional accidents” regardless of being notified by directors and officers that the youngsters had been bullied.
Douglas’ 12-year-old boys began attending Pepper Tree in August 2016, and her 9-year-old daughter began attending Pepper Tree in August 2019.
Upland Unified Faculty District officers declined to remark Tuesday, however beforehand denounced the allegations in a YouTube video.
Upland Faculty Board President Sherman Garnett acknowledged that the video had “racially insensitive and unacceptable incidents”.
“We deeply remorse the harm this motion has prompted to our college students, households and group,” he mentioned. “I wish to make it clear that we’ve got a strict zero-tolerance coverage in the direction of hate speech, harassment, discriminatory practices, conduct and racial slurs of any type. All experiences of those actions will probably be completely and promptly investigated.”
The Upland Unified Faculty District “is not going to hesitate to implement disciplinary motion beneath these circumstances,” Garnett mentioned, however didn’t elaborate.
In response to the invoice, one of many kids alleges that they obtained “alien remedy” throughout PE class, together with not being allowed to take part and “forcing them to lean in opposition to a series fence.” The dad and mom declare that lodging had been additionally supplied to their white kids who weren’t Douglas kids based mostly on their race.
One of many Douglas kids was accused of “bringing a weapon to highschool with the intention of attacking a trainer”, however the dad and mom claimed to have really introduced an agate assortment.
Allegedly, through the pandemic, kids had been subjected to “digital racial assault via faculty studying applications.” A hyperlink was despatched to the youngsters that, when clicked, opened the N-word and a picture of a monkey.
In response to their dad and mom, the Douglas kids had been typically known as “monkeys” and “monkeys” by different college students, and had been additionally referred to as “monkeys.” They had been requested to signal a “Golden N-Phrase” card. As a result of holding that card will make you “higher handled” than different black youngsters.
One of many sons was additionally “depicted as a doll hanging from a tree.”
The Douglases declare they reported the racial abuse to highschool officers who promised to start out educating variety to workers and lecturers, however nothing was completed.
The Douglases say their kids suffered emotional and psychological anguish, “a lack of capability to pay attention at school” and violations of their civil rights. They’re searching for damages of over $10,000.
