A South Jersey school district has agreed to pay a student $75,000 to settle allegations that the district failed to take appropriate steps to end years of race-based bullying.
The girl, who is black, attended Franklin Township's Main Road School in Gloucester County from 2005 to 2009. She claimed students called her race-based names and made bias-driven comments.
"No child should have to endure the kind of alleged harassment that took place in this case," said Division on Civil Rights Director Craig T. Sashihara. "The student conduct described here was deplorable. And one of the issues we continue to stress statewide, through awareness and enforcement, is that school districts are responsible for implementing a genuinely effective response when this kind of student-on-student activity is reported."
The district denied it engaged in unlawful discrimination and said administrators acted on the student's allegations. But the state's Civil Rights Division in 2011 issued a finding of probable cause against the school.
Under the settlement, the school board must allocate at least $2,500 to create an anti-bullying awareness program. It must also review its policies and ensure those who respond to bullying complaints are appropriately trained.
"This settlement represents a fair resolution to a disturbing matter,” said Acting Gloucester County Attorney General Hoffman. "As we begin another school year, this case should serve as a reminder to school districts throughout the state that they have a duty to New Jersey’s children to create and maintain a bullying-free learning environment, and that they have a legal responsibility when confronted with reports that a student is being bullied to take affirmative steps ‘reasonably calculated’ to end the conduct."
