GENEVA, Ohio — The Ohio NAACP is investigating after complaints were made by families whose students attend Geneva Area City Schools, alleging racial slurs and targeting of their students.
Liz Penna, president of the Ashtabula branch of the NAACP, said she has received about ten complaints from middle and elementary school families over the past two months. All of the students involved are biracial.
“I was contacted by several parents about the racial name calling, slurs, and profiling that the students are having, and the parents are very concerned,” said Penna. “I’ve had parents who’ve taken their kids out of school for a length of time for the safety of their children, because they’ve had fights and [they’re] being constantly intimidated. And because of that, they’re not getting the education that they deserve.”
Penna said she’s concerned about the mental health of the impacted students, and said some students feel that because nothing is being done when they report these incidents, that nobody cares.
“We had a student threaten to bring a gun into the school and shoot all the Afro-American students,” she said. “I’m using that word lightly, that’s not the word that was used.”
Penna said that her conversations with the district haven’t gone anywhere, and that offers of diversity training have been turned down.
“I hoped that we don’t have to go down the road of litigation, because I feel that some of these cases, there could be – could be a possibility of lawsuits,” she said. “For one, I feel these children are not in a safe environment, and they’re not living up to their policy of anti-bullying and harassment. These children are not getting the education that’s promised to them”
In a statement, the district’s superintendent, Dr. Terri Hrina-Treharn shared the following with 3News:
“The district takes all allegations seriously and conducts a thorough investigation. We apply our policies and procedures and comply with those standards. When threats are made, they are swiftly investigated in conjunction with local law enforcement as school safety is our number one priority. Any student(s) found to have made the threat are then disciplined. Currently, the district is conducting our own internal investigation regarding racial allegations.”
Ricardo Velazquez is a parent in the district, and also attended the district as a child. He said he does not anticipate anything changing at the district.
“I think it’s just the same stuff that’s going to keep happening over and over again,” he said. “I think you’re just going to have to either deal with it or find a different route. Geneva’s been going down, it just seems like the district’s been not focusing on children.”
Upon hearing about these complaints received by the Ashtabula NAACP, Velazquez said it’s important to stand up for kids.
“When something like that’s happening, I think that we have to be the voice. Somebody has to be the voice,” he said.
Velazquez had his own concerns with the district, and turned to the NAACP on Tuesday. He said his son, a kindergartner, has been sent home frequently, and then penalized for truancy, despite feeling fine, among other issues. Additionally, Velazquez said his son was paired with a Spanish therapist, despite not speaking Spanish. Velazquez said he believes the school looked at his last name and made a judgement.
“I thought that was kind of – they went off of racial things. I didn’t think it was right, and that’s why I wanted a meeting with them,” he said. “We had a meeting with the principal and the Spanish teacher stuff and the therapist that they had there, and like I said, it was like a mistake, like they didn’t really care. It didn’t seem like it mattered to them.”
Dr. Geraldine Hayes-Nelson, Education Chair of the Ohio NAACP, said parents are hesitant to come forward because of fear of retaliation against their children. She said that nationwide, they have seen an uptick in these types of complaints from public schools.
Penna said she has reached out to the State Board of Education among other groups to discuss the complaints. She said on May 2, there will be a meeting open to the public to discuss the complaints and learn about what comes next.
“Right now, I would like to concentrate on building the esteem of these students,” Penna said. “Let them know that you are important, be proud of your heritage, and you can accomplish anything.”