ROCKINGHAM — Richmond County Schools is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for alleged discrimination.

The family of a Rohanen Middle School student filed a complaint with the department’s Office of Civil Rights, claiming the district “discriminated against the student and other African-American students on the basis of race,” according to an OCR notification letter dated Aug. 6, 2015.

A letter dated exactly seven months prior, from Kimberlina McKinney, of Beverly Hills-based Kimberlina Law and Consulting, to school principal Hal Shuler and Superintendent Dr. Cindy Goodman, states the allegations date back to 2014, where a “pattern of mistreatment against (the student)” and others resulted in threats of “undeserved write-ups,” denied access to the water fountain “without good cause, while allowing other students the same basic privilege,” and ridiculing the student for “basic behavior, such as blowing his nose, while failing to be sensitive to his diagnosis of a sinus condition by a pediatrician.”

The family says that law firm no longer represents them in this case.

The student’s parents met with school officials in September 2014 to address the student’s “mistreatment and alleged ‘misbehavior,’” which “resulted in the exposure of blatant mistreatment of and excessive punishment of (the student), especially as compared to other Caucasian students,” according to the letter.

McKinney goes on to state the student was “punished, without cause, and placed on ‘silent lunch,’ whereby he was excluded from activities and segregated from other students.”

The student was also written up for allegedly tripping another student, “shouting ‘shut up’ to another classmate and giving constant attitude,” and was “verbally chastised…for talking during class.”

According to the lawyer, none of the student’s behavior “has been shown to be extraordinary or atypical of a fifth-grade boy, by any means, nor deserving of segregation and sharp punishment.”

INCIDENTS EXPLAINED

Tripping fellow student: The lawyer’s letter says that witnesses stated the student was sitting at his desk with his foot casually out and his classmate accidentally tripped over it, and, “based on several accounts,” the classmate who fell believed it wasn’t on purpose.

Despite the teacher having no evidence of intentional misbehavior, McKinney wrote, the teacher reprimanded the student.

In an investigative report dated Feb. 11, 2015, Shuler said the teacher witnessed the student tripping the classmate, although the student continued to deny the allegation.

Denied water: Shuler said he was told by that particular teacher that the student was misbehaving in the line to go to the bathroom and was told not to get water.

Nose-blowing: According to Shuler, the teacher was giving a test and said that the student was “making some very disruptive noises by blowing his nose…(and) he could tell that after a number of times (the student) was trying to distract (other) students by the noises. He stated in a very strong tone that he told (the student) to not blow his nose again.”

In each case of alleged misconduct and disrespect, Shuler said the teachers’ responses were appropriate and were not “based on the student’s race, color or national origin.”

Another allegation from McKinney was that a teacher had “referred to students as monkeys and dogs.”

Shuler said this was during a unit on Social Darwinism in a social studies class and the teacher had taught that in the past Europeans referred to people they considered lower classes — showing pictures — as monkeys and dogs.

“(The teacher) did state that this injustice is wrong, but it was done in the past,” he wrote. “No one was referred to as a monkey or a dog.”

However, the incident involving the “silent lunch,” Shuler chalked up to “an honest mistake.”

He said teachers told him the student had been given silent lunch previously but did not know why during the incident in question.

“I told them at the time to be sure to check the silent lunch roll and make sure the ones that were to be there were the only ones present,” he wrote. “After talking with (the student) and the teachers, I believe (the student) thought he had silent lunch and went on that basis. Our teachers were wrong in that they should have sent him back to the lunchroom when he showed up.”

Shuler concluded his report saying the student was having “a good year” and had not been suspended but had spent time in detention and silent lunch for various referrals.

He also said that out of the student’s teachers, two were in their first year and the other two were in their second year of teaching.

“I am sure they have made some mistakes along the way,” he said, “but have never intentionally singled out (the student) or mistreated him in any way.”

FILING WITH THE FEDS

In the letter to the OCR, McKinney said Shuler’s report was “biased and unreliable on its face.”

“Not a single student was interviewed as part of the Investigative Report, many of whom are the only unbiased witnesses to the discriminatory conduct,” she wrote, adding that neither the student nor his family was interviewed. “Most importantly, the principal only interviewed the culprits of the discriminatory conduct — the teachers.”

McKinney also accuses Shuler of coercing the family by having an African-American teacher call the father “to convince him not to file a discrimination complaint.”

“The Richmond County School System makes every effort to treat students, parents and community members of all backgrounds fairly and with respect,” Goodman said in a statement to the Daily Journal on Friday. “The Board of Education and the administration prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability and age. Unlawful discrimination is never allowed or tolerated.”

She said the OCR is obligated to investigate any complaint without regard to its substance or merit.

“The mere fact that OCR is investigating does not indicate anything other than someone has filed a complaint” she said. “We have cooperated fully and are in the process of gathering requested data to assist OCR in its review.”

Goodman said this is the only OCR request received in the four years she has been back in the district.

Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.

Goodman
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William R. Toler | Daily Journal The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights is investigating claims of discrimination at Rohanen Middle School.
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By William R. Toler

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