The parents of two Black children who attended a Texas elementary school filed a lawsuit against the Clear Creek Independent School District last month accusing school officials of ignoring claims of bullying and abuse.
In the lawsuit filed on July 28, the parents, Chanda Jackson and Tatiawana Jackson, allege that officials from North Pointe Elementary School in Houston either ignored or failed to follow guidelines when handling incidents of “racial discrimination” at the school, which created a “hostile environment” for their children.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Galveston, the lawsuit alleges that on separate occasions in 2019, one of the victims, identified as “John Doe,” was attacked by other students, including being choked, punched in the eye and tripped. It also says John Doe was “punished” by an unnamed teacher who refused to let him use the restroom, causing the student to “wet his pants” on multiple occasions. The lawsuit alleges that white students were not given the same treatment.
The lawyer representing the parents did not respond to requests for comment.
The suit alleges that the other victim, identified as “Jane Doe,” was bullied and physically abused by students, including being slapped by a student, causing hearing loss, and bit on the hand by another student that led to her needing stitches.
“We were really blindsided by the allegations because they’re not substantiated by any evidence we have,” Leila Sarmecanic, the general counsel for the school district, told NBC News. “We don’t discriminate against students on the basis of their race.”
The lawsuit also says one of Jane Doe’s teachers once removed Jane from her lunch table away from her friends and made her eat alone. Neither the student nor her parents were ever given an explanation for the isolation, according to the suit. When asked about the allegations, Sarmecanic said that the teacher is still employed by the school and that no formal complaints have been made about her.
Sarmecanic also said there have been no formal complaints made about the elementary school or to school district officials about race discrimination.
“We have gone back through nurses records and discipline records, and we have not found anything to support the allegations in the lawsuit,” she said.
According to the suit, the alleged discrimination made the children feel “depressed, sad, traumatized, distraught, with feelings of isolation and loss of self-worth.” In data from the Texas Education Agency shows that North Pointe Elementary School had 65 African American students out of a total of 735 students in the 2019-20 school year, when Jane and John Doe were in attendance.
Additionally, the student population at North Pointe is made up of about 33% white students, 30% Hispanic/Latino students, 24% Asian/Pacific Islander students and 8% Black students, according to data based on the last three school years. Teachers in the school district, meanwhile, are about 77% white, and only about 5% are Black, according to 2018 to 2019 data.
Elaina Polsen, chief communications officer for the school district, said that the lawsuit had created a stressful environment for those working at the school. Polsen denied all allegations against the school district that were in the suit.
“It’s been a tough few days at North Pointe Elementary, which should be days of celebration because we just started school,” Polsen said. “We’re trying to get our story out there as best as we can.”
North Pointe’s principal didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who isn’t involved in this suit, tweeted about the lawsuit last week.
“This school’s INACTION in the presence of mistreatment can’t go unpunished!” Crump wrote in part on Twitter.
The parents of the two Black children are seeking unspecified damages from the school district.
