Racism. Not here. Not in Cook County, right? And not in Cook County School District I.S.D. 166, right?
But on September 21, the International Day of Peace as declared by the United Nations, the I.S.D. 166 school board met and was met head-on by a saddened public distraught over learning that two girls, sisters, had been the target of racist bullying over the course of two school years by a variety of offenders.
And now, following the latest incident of racial bullying that occurred last month in the school to the oldest child, a popular freshman in the school, the family has decided to leave the community.
Here are snippets from some of the people who spoke to the school board:
. Kate Fitzgerald asked why, over the course of two years, “has the school let it get to the point that this wonderful family has to think about leaving this community?”
. Greg Gailen said he learned about the latest incident hours before the meeting. He cautioned that racial incidents could start out small and get bigger and bigger. “Take all racial incidents seriously,” he said and added that it was important that everybody in the community, no matter their color, creed or religion, should feel welcome. “We need to get together and make our schools better. And that means me too.”
. Jill Terrill asked what steps the school had taken to protect kids that were bullied. “I don’t think we can extinguish all of this in the school, but I believe we can back up the kid.”
Long-term abuse without the proper adult support and backup can harm a child for life, said Terrill.
. Dave Steckelberg was particularly bothered by the issue of bullying. Dave said his son was bullied and quit school at 15. “He wouldn’t even use the bathroom,” said Steckelberg. “He’s 28 now, and things worked out fine, but he had precious little support in school.”
. Kelly Hawsen, the girls’ varsity basketball coach, wanted to get an understanding of what happened “so I can move forward and help some of the girls work through their pain. How do we start these conversations? What is my role as a coach? I’m here and want to help, but I don’t know how to help.” The ninth grader who is leaving was on Hawsen’s team. . Musa Abdel-Rahman spoke next. “I was one of the few colored kids in school. This is pretty disheartening.” Mussa called this situation a “precious moment you guys can use. This is very important. Get some resolve to this.” . Kathyann Travis is an immigrant in the community from Jamaica. She is married to a white man and describes their son as a “Scandinuuvian.” “I’m surprised the school doesn’t have a racial bullying policy.” She added the community was becoming more racially diverse and said the school should have zero tolerance for racial bullying.
Before the public spoke
I.S.D. 166 superintendent Dr. William Crandall addressed the crowd:
“I want to start out stating that the school district is limited in responding to details due to state and federal laws, meaning data privacy. Thus, the School District cannot answer or address any specific incident or allegation. We see any report, not as a one and done but more of a systemic concern that the school is addressing.
The district considers all incidents serious in nature and investigates all incidents to get the best understanding of the situation from all perspectives.
The school administration follows the policies in place.
What does the school do?
The counselor and administration have and will be addressing all the secondary classes.
The district has brought together our social worker, counselor, Grand Portage representation and building administrators to address issues of harassment with students in all of our schools. The district is going to utilize the services of these individuals to conduct workshops as well as to deal individually with students when any incidents of harassment, bullying or other inappropriate issues arise.
The team is looking at resources to bring into our schools outside resources to address racism, bullying, harassment and inappropriate behaviors. The School District always reviews the addition of tolerance programs and restorative justice and schedules these as they become available.
The district has put into place this school year PBIS-positive behavior intervention supports.
We have the following policies in place: Harassment and violence; Bullying; Title IX; ADA; Discipline; Internet.
Students and staff are notified of these policies and procedures, and they are reviewed with them on a regular basis.
Our district vision is Success for each; Respect for all
Our schools need to address and exemplify respect for all.
We as a community should start having conversations about harassment based upon an individual’s protected classification. These conversations can be uncomfortable, but we need to be uncomfortable so we can acknowledge the dignity and worth of everyone.
Having these difficult conversations and providing our students with the education on these topics of bullying, harassment, respect, teaching tolerance is where the school is starting the conversation.
These conversations need to continue and/ or start with families and the community as a whole.
We cannot ignore or deny the existence of harassment and bullying and that it occurs not only in schools but in our community.
The school will be providing our students with education. Our young people, the students in our schools, are the future. In order for our community to be a successful diversified one, our future adults, our current students, should be educated to respect differences and be prepared to stand up and speak up about racism.”
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