A group of current and former Black students called out racial discrimination in the Monroe County Community School Corporation during Tuesday’s board meeting. The students shared personal experiences with racism, and the district promised to act on the issue.
The group wants MCCSC to include racial discrimination in its bullying policy, improve response times and investigations into reported incidences, and retain documentation of the process. MCCSC adopted its current bullying policy in September 2013.
“I have a felt powerless and as if there is nothing meaningful I can do to change what is happening,” said Sabrah Wagner, a senior at Bloomington High School North.
She said she has had peers and staff members call her racial slurs, which makes her feel unsafe and dehumanizes her. As a result, she is calling on MCCSC to conduct appropriate investigations and ensure consequences along with them.
“The lack of specification for instances of racial discrimination or racially motivated bullying is unacceptable,” Wagner said.
Sydney Crossley recently finished her first year of high school, but said she first experienced racism in second grade when she and a friend asked a classmate if he needed help.
“When he responded, he said, ‘I would like help from her, but not help from you,’” she said. “When I asked him why, he said it was ‘because of the color of your skin.’”
“That was the first time I experienced racism here, but it would not be the last,” Crossley said.
Tannisha Riley is a development psychologist with a specialty in adolescence. She said the board should take the students’ concerns seriously.
“How people treat you based on your identity will indeed have an impact on your life,” Riley said.
She referenced a 2019 study from Rutgers University that found Black students have an increased risk of becoming depressed as a result of frequent microaggressions. The study also determined Black students in the Washington D.C. area experienced five acts of racial discrimination each day.
“That includes whispers in the hallways about insensitive jokes, comments from peers about the difference in their hair and skin tone, teachers asking them to be the knower of all things race and ethnicity,” Riley said.
Superintendent Jeff Hauswald said he already spoke with assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction Markay Wisnton about the issue. He said Wisnton will sit down with the students and hear their experiences in more detail.
“Then we will work to address your concerns through policy development,” Hauswald said.
Board members April Hennessey, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, Erin Cooperman, Ross Grimes and Brandon Shurr acknowledged the students’ concerns and thanked them for speaking.
“Your voices matter,” Fuentes-Rohwer said. “Policy directly affects you, you’re the reason we’re here.”
