Review finds Boston Latin failed to deal correctly with one racist student; bulk of racist tweets were by out-of-state troublemakers

Boston Public Schools tonight released a summary of a review of how Boston Latin School dealt with seven incidents of racism between November, 2014 and last month:

The review found BLS did not adequately investigate the incident, did not adequately discipline the student, nor take appropriate steps to ensure the support and safety of the targeted student.

In a more detailed report, BPS says:

This incident involved a male student (non-­‐Black) who called a Black female student a racial slur and threatened her with a reference to lynching. BLS administrators disciplined the male student, but failed to notify his parents of the incident or the discipline. They also failed to notify the targeted student’s parents of the incident. The investigation determined that administrators did not apply the school's Code of Conduct or internal practices on progressive discipline appropriately, nor did they take sufficient steps to ensure the support and safety of the targeted student, even when her parents later voiced concerns about the school's response.

According to BPS, most of the racist tweets collected into a binder by two black students and given to school Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta were, in fact, by racist out-of-staters with no actual connection to the school and pretty poor spelling skills:

Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta and Assistant Headmaster Sherry Lewis-daPonte reviewed the binder and determined that the most offensive tweets were not written by BLS students.

This investigation confirmed that conclusion, verifying that the most offensive tweets, such as "If you hate us so much Go Bach [sic] to Africa," the use of a racial slur, and "...they feel entitled to special treatment because their great great grandpa was a slave" were written by students enrolled in two different school districts in Illinois. There was no evidence that BLS students retweeted or otherwise disseminated these messages.

Administrators identified four BLS students who wrote what the school determined to be racially insensitive tweets included in the binder, such as, "The only racism left in the media is reverse racism, there is no coverage of black on white violence, only the opposite." Ms. Teta conducted "individualized interventions" with those four students, which included verbal warnings and a conversation about how their conduct reflected on themselves and the school. No further disciplinary action was taken. None of the four students have been involved in any additional reported incidents since the individualized interventions.

BPS adds the review - and complaints by leaders of the Black at BLS protest - are leading to changes in how BLS and the entire district will try to improve their racial climate.

Among the recommendations to improve the climate at BLS, the Office of Equity has asked BLS Headmaster Lynne Mooney Teta and others to institute a racial climate audit before the close of this school year and again next year; immediately launch dialogues on race and ethnicity with the school community, including members of the student social justice organization Black Leaders Aspiring for Change and Knowledge (BLS B.L.A.C.K.); and to work with the district to increase the hiring of Black and Latino teachers for the 2016-2017 school year.

BPS is using the recommendations as an opportunity to reset how it addresses allegations of racism in schools, with school administrators now being asked to report these types of allegations directly to the Office of Equity, which in turn reports directly to Superintendent Chang.

In a statement, School Superintendent Tommy Chang said:

Racial intolerance should never be accepted in any Boston public school. This is deeply personal to me as someone who had similar experiences growing up as an immigrant in the United States. I am fully committed to ensuring that no student should ever feel unsafe in any of our schools. BLS must take a critical examination of itself, in particular around issues of race and culture.

More details on the report.