OCR Finds Melrose Schools Failed to Adequately Respond to Teacher's Statement That a Student Should Not Act Like He Is on the "Plantation"

The Office for Civil Rights has completed its investigation of racial harassment in Melrose Public Schools in Massachusetts and entered into a settlement agreement with the school system.  The investigation arose out of allegations that a teacher at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School had reprimanded an African American student and made a reference to "the plantation" or needing to "come back to the plantation."  When meeting with the administration later, the teacher indicated she could not remember exactly what she said, but it was something to the effect of "don't talk to me like you're on a plantation."  Of special note is also the fact that the student was attending Melrose as part of Boston's METCO program.  The program allows students from the city to attend suburban schools, with the purpose being to increase diversity.

OCR investigated the matter and confirmed the incident.  It found that the administration did not document the incident, but the did arrange a meeting in which the teacher would apologize to the student.  In the meeting, the teacher "apologized for any misunderstanding that may have upset the Student, and she also told the Student that he should not feel subservient to her or demean himself, and described the Student's 'coming [teacher]' comment as akin to a remark that a 'slave' would make to a 'master.'"  

Later, other parents who heard about the incident raised concerns with the superintendent.  At that point, the superintendent wrote a letter of reprimand to the teacher.  As the controversy surrounding the incident increase, the superintendent indicated a few days later that he would take further steps address investigate and discipline similar events in the future, and that "deeper underlying issues" need to be addressed. A little over a week later, the teacher was placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation was complete. After investigation, the district concluded that the student had spoken to the teacher with a "mimicking tone of voice" and that because the teacher's comment in response was an isolated one, it did not create a hostile environment.  It did, however, recommend racial sensitivity training and counseling for the teacher and district in general.  It also indicated it would ensure that the students who had witnessed the event would not be assigned to the teacher again in the future.

After its own investigation, OCR found that the District did not sufficiently respond to the hostile environment.  First, its investigation and response was delayed.  Second, it did not fully delve into the teacher's past behavior to determine the extent of the problem.  Third, it did not provide parents with sufficient notice of what had occurred.  Fourth, during the investigation, the district did not take action to remedy the effects of the hostile environment on other students.  In short, while the District responded to the hostile environment, it did not take adequate steps to address it.

OCR's close attention to the way in which the incident affected the entire school community and the way District responded is significant.  Courts are often dismissive of what they call "isolated" incidents and so long as a district does "something," courts tend to find the response adequate.  Here, OCR makes clear that racially hostile comments affect everyone and cannot be viewed in isolation.  Thus, it is a districts obligation to broaden the scope of its investigation and response.

The full findings are here.

The resolution agreement, which includes additional steps that the District will take, is here.