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Mamaroneck schools, cited for inaction on racial bullying, agrees to reforms
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Jul 18, 2023
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By
Arun Venugopal
Published Jul 18, 2023
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The Mamaroneck Union Free School District has agreed to a series of reforms after an attorney general’s office investigation found school and district officials failed to adequately protect nonwhite students from bullying and racial harassment.
The reforms include revising the district’s harassment policies to ensure “prompt and effective” responses to bullying and harassment; filing written reports when a student reports bullying or discrimination; providing school counseling services for “at-risk” students; and punishing alleged offenders who retaliate against victims who report abuse. Additionally, the district will regularly collect data “to determine staff and student sense of belonging and dignity.”
“With this agreement, the Mamaroneck Union Free School District has committed to take appropriate measures to meet its duty to children and their families and to protect students from bullying, harassment, and discrimination,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a release announcing the agreement. “My office will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that every child feels safe and respected in the classroom.”
The attorney general’s three-year investigation follows a series of complaints dating as far back as the 2015-2016 school year.
The complaints involved “white and other non-Black students using racial epithets towards or about Black and other minority students, students making inappropriate references to skin color or complexion, and other instances in which sexually offensive terms were used to degrade a student’s perceived sexual orientation and which were interlaced with racial epithets,” according to the attorney general office.
The Westchester County school district’s “lack of action” in responding to the complaints “led to students being repeatedly degraded and discriminated against by their classmates for months across various schools within the district,“ the investigation concluded.
Mamaroneck Superintendent Robert Shaps, who is set to retire in December, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But according to LoHud.com, Shaps and School Board President Ariana Cohen signed a statement last week noting that the agreement with the AG’s office "memorializes the District’s commitment to diversity” and that the district hopes to “go beyond racial bias and make changes so that all students can feel included.”
Last year, the school district settled for an undisclosed sum a lawsuit brought by the family of a Black student who alleged they were regularly called the N-word by another student and subjected to other forms of racial abuse, in a pattern that lasted for years and prompted the student and his sister to be home-schooled. That lawsuit prompted the investigation by the attorney general in 2020.
Tagged
mamaroneck
bullying
School District
Attorney General Letitia James
Race And Justice Unit
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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