A federal lawsuit was filed earlier this week on behalf of a 15-year-old Kettle Moraine student and her parent, over allegations that the girl was subjected to bullying and racist harassment for years at school. According to the family’s attorney, B'Ivory Lamarr, the minor student is referred to as SQ in the suit that was filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin federal court.

Discrimination graphic; image courtesy of kalhh via Pixabay, www.pixabay.com

The suit alleges SQ’s “civil rights, as well as those of other students of color, were violated when the Kettle Moraine School District, Kettle Moraine High School, and Kettle Moraine Middle School failed to protect SQ and other students from a hostile learning environment.” Additionally, the lawsuit argues that SQ “had suffered harm and had recently began treatment with a mental health professional to help deal with the toxic build-up of racially charged traumas from her experiences.” It further stated that the girl “has been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and recurrent, moderate major depressive disorder.”What happened, though? According to the suit, SQ was involved in several incidents of racism, “some of them in the presence of other students, ranging from racist slurs to inappropriate jokes.” When addressing the lawsuit at a press conference back on October 16, the student and her mother, Ebony Crumble, along with community activists, “demanded a change in the way the Kettle Moraine School District dealt with racial bullying.” Lamarr said, “Enough is enough. This will not be tolerated. Not on my watch. We are calling for immediate action.”Lamarr added that as part of the lawsuit, the student and her mother are demanded policy reforms. For example, they are “asking the school district to implement and recognize October as National Anti-Bullying Month, have a neutral third party conduct assessments at each district school and provide for a school safety coordinator to ensure the compliance of anti-bullying programs.” On top of that, Crumble and her daughter are also seeking damages for pain and suffering and the “long-term effects that SQ will continue to face.”This isn’t the first lawsuit filed against Kettle Moraine schools in recent months, though. In fact, a month ago the high school was hit with a lawsuit filed over allegations that two students sent “a racist image on Snapchat to another student.” As a result, the district punished those two students and the high school plans to “start a student committee to address” racial issues in the school. Also, back in 2019, Crumble helped spur the development of a ‘Cultural Advisory Committee’ to help address racial issues. Unfortunately, “meetings of the group never moved beyond discussion to tangible action and were ultimately suspended earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

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Lawsuit against Kettle Moraine School District alleges a 'hostile learning environment' of racism and bullyingLawsuit Alleges Years Of Racist Bullying At Kettle Moraine School District