Williamson County residents urge school board to address racial bullying

Independence High School student Elaina Reed told Williamson County School Board members that she was scared when one of her classmates bullied her for her race.Reed says that classmate called her a racial slur and said he was going to shoot up every black person in the school. She immediately spoke to the principal following the student’s threats.“I’m still scared to this day to go to that school,” said Reed.School leaders contacted Reed’s parents Dorita Jones and Herbert Reed. They also launched an investigation and removed the student from Reed’s class, but he remains in school.Reed’s parents expressed their disappointment to board members for how school leaders have handled the situation.“She does not feel safe, and she feels targeted. So how are we going to keep students safe that look like her?” said Jones.“No student should be made to feel inferior. And I do agree, ya’ll do need to have procedures and policies in place when somebody (does) make threats, something you can’t take lightly these days,” said Herbert Reed. “It’s personal. It can be your kids, any of our kids. If you had a threat, what would you do?”Reed told her story during a public hearing Tuesday night that included multiple comments about racial concerns in the district.Last year Williamson County Schools reported instances of racial related bullying had doubled since the 2021-2022 school year, with more than 70 reports based on race.One WillCo co-founder Revida Rahman expanded on the concerns about this issue, saying there’s also a difference in treatment between student offences based on skin color that needs to be addressed. One WillCo is a non-partisan grassroots group working to make a safe and fair learning environment for students of color in Williamson County.“We have Black students being sent to ALC (Alternative Learning Center) for cursing while we have a White student who makes a threat to kill and doesn’t get that same measure of discipline. The system is flawed. We are no longer living in the days where we can take someone at their word and we expect WCS to follow their own discipline policy with the seriousness this complaint deserves,” said Rahman.The topic of racism wasn’t limited to bullying during the meeting.Williamson County resident Becca Ripley told board members she believes Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act is rooted in that same racism. It would allow parents statewide to send their children to private school using taxpayer dollars if approved by the Tennessee General Assembly.“I can’t abandon public schools. Vouchers feel like abandonment to me. I believe in investing in and supporting free and fair education and public education’s vital role in creating, sustaining, and maintaining strong, diverse, and involved communities,” said Ripley. “Voucher programs are rooted in racism and discrimination, and I think as we have heard, we are still dealing with a lot of that and we’re not doing it right. And we don’t need to feed it more.”Some Williamson County residents pleaded with the board to join other districts in Tennessee that have passed a resolution publicly denouncing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act.Janet Schaus is a parent of a former Williamson County Schools student with autism. She told board members that private schools wouldn’t take or consider her son or other disabled kids, and that the highest needs students would remain if every eligible kid went to private school.“This voucher program is a long-anticipated step towards privatizing education and dismantling our public schools. If the state has this kind of money to spend, why aren’t they spending it on our public schools? Why are we giving it to private schools? I’m particularly concerned because our kids don’t get the supports and services they need,” said Schaus. “I’m a big fan of public schools because private schools discriminate.”School board members have yet to discuss plans for a resolution opposing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, but Superintendent Jason A. Golden did say the district is thoughtfully working on improving and responding to student safety.