A group of parents is suing a Duluth charter school, alleging that their Black elementary and middle school-age children were the victims of racist bullying and discrimination from students and teachers.
The suit was initially filed in April 2019 by Kali Proctor, Katelyn Hansen, Ronetter Birgans, and Desmond Gilbert. The parents are seeking monetary compensation and demanding systemic changes at Duluth Edison Charter Schools after what their children endured, NBC News reported.
Reports claim that the students were harassed with racial slurs and physical attacks. In one instance, the parents said a teacher allegedly cut off a student's dreadlock and threw it in the trash.
The suit's details cite a culture of racism at the school's Raleigh and North Star Academy campuses that school officials refused to address and put a stop to.
Rebekah Bailey is an attorney representing the parents, and she says that numerous families have been left frustrated by the school community, NBC News reported.
"The families, in this case, all they really ever wanted is for their children to be treated fairly at school," Bailey said. "They fought long and hard to remedy their individual situations as best they could through the system. This case was only filed when they exhausted those opportunities."
Two dozen nonprofit advocacy groups joined to file an amicus brief supporting the children and the lawsuit last month. The groups joined after the school system requested to have the suit dismissed.
The groups include the ACLU of Minnesota, the National Women's Law Center, and many more.
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The lawsuit said that Black students were bit, punched, kicked, pinched, and spit on by white students who repeatedly called them the N-word. The white classmates also taunted the students by calling them "negro” or "monkey," telling them that they "look like what's inside a toilet."
In 2017 a Black kindergartener at North Star Academy was threatened by a white student who said they were going to stab her in the eye with a screwdriver because she looked "different," the lawsuit alleges.
The girl, who is biracial, was kicked and pinched on several occasions, and during a bus ride to school, she was punched by an older white student so hard she had bruises on her ribs, the suit says.
School staff failed to "take any meaningful action" after the father of the girl approached school officials several times demanding to discuss what had happened, the lawsuit says.
With another Black student, the suit says that she "was spit on so profusely by a white student that she had to change her clothes."
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The school denied the allegations in a statement to NBC News.
"There is nothing more important to Duluth Edison Charter Schools than the well-being of the students we educate every day. Duluth Edison Charter Schools has welcomed a diverse community of learners for nearly 25 years. Throughout that time, we have remained committed to creating a respectful, inclusive and safe learning environment for students, staff and our families. The core values that shape our school community include respect, compassion, justice, and integrity. We take seriously any concerns from students, parents and our community that do not reflect those values," the statement said.