Fairfax Co. NAACP calls for more urgency in school handling of discrimination complaints

Fairfax County鈥檚 NAACP chapter is calling for more transparency and urgency in how Northern Virginia鈥檚 largest school system investigates and responds to complaints of anti-Black bias and discrimination.

In a statement, the organization is calling for stronger trainings and oversight for teachers and administrators, timely review of bias and discrimination complaints and clear communication about the process for reporting such complaints for families and students.

The statement followed the group鈥檚 forum with Superintendent Michelle Reid earlier this month. For over 90 minutes, some families expressed frustration with a lack of communication or transparency.

Ashleigh Williams, whose son attends Thoreau Middle School, said during the meeting that he 鈥渉as been handed bananas and called a monkey. My son has had the N-word said out loud repeatedly in front of staff, and in a few instances, one most recently, staff did nothing because they claimed they couldn鈥檛 identify who the student was in the group.鈥�

In response to the community session, Niki Zimmerman, president of Fairfax County鈥檚 NAACP, said there鈥檚 hope changes and accountability will result.

鈥淲e鈥檝e always gotten complaints about FCPS, but my takeaway was, I got the feeling that they got it,鈥� Zimmerman said. 鈥淭hey understood the seriousness of these concerns from parents.鈥�

The group, Zimmerman said, encourages families to report incidents to school leadership, but 鈥渟ometimes parents get ignored, and that鈥檚 why they come to us.鈥�

Many of the complaints are about racial or disabilities discrimination, Zimmerman said. Sometimes, teachers have concerns about the way colleagues have been treating them.

The school division has rolled out an online form for complaints about harassment or discrimination, but Zimmerman said it鈥檚 unclear to parents about 鈥渨ho鈥檚 on the other side looking at it. Who鈥檚 determining the viability of your complaints? Or are they looking at it in order to just survey it and then nothing happens.鈥�

In a statement, the district said it鈥檚 engaging directly with families to 鈥渓isten to their experiences, better understand their concerns, and ensure their voices help inform our next steps. We also value our partnership with the NAACP and appreciate their advocacy on behalf of students and families.鈥�

Meanwhile, Zimmerman said sometimes, 鈥渟chool administrators provide top cover a lot of times for each other, and that is why nothing gets done.鈥� In certain cases, she said, rap music lyrics or the political climate have been used as excuses for some students鈥� behavior.

At the June 18 forum, Reid told the room the district is 鈥渨orking hard at upholding a standard, and a clear standard. It鈥檚 clear we can continue to work harder. We can do better.鈥�

Soon, Zimmerman said the organization will release a series of guidelines it thinks Fairfax County schools should start using. For one, they鈥檙e recommending a clear timeline for handling issues that arise, to prevent them from lingering for months at a time.

鈥淭here is a contrast in how our Black students are being treated versus any other protected group, how their complaints and their concerns are being looked at,鈥� Zimmerman said.

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