As the parents of the Hackett Middle School student whose complaint of race-based harassment was ignored, we agree with the May 31 editorial, "Uneasy times in Albany." School officials should have — and could have — sent a swift message that the harassment was intolerable.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights report on the case, the students could have been punished for taking a KKK hood to school because their actions offended many students. In fact, the Hackett principal initially concluded, "the decision to bring this mask into school resulted in a disruption of the learning environment and was deemed offensive and inappropriate by fellow students."
But then the principal changed his mind.
It was hardly the only bad decision. According to the report, "The District concluded that no discriminatory harassment occurred," even though "there was sufficient information to infer that the incident was racially motivated." Moreover, "the District did not offer counseling to the Student; even after the District was aware that the Student was afraid."
Was the decision to rip our daughter from her school three months before graduation and toss her into high school without a supportive cohort also a bad resolution? Undoubtedly, it saddled her with irreparable loss and unreasonable expectations. But, she landed in an environment where every precaution is taken.
The Albany school district can get it right, and usually does. The OCR report leaves no doubt that the Hackett principal violated the civil rights of our daughter and fellow Hackett students. The new superintendent needs to fix the problem at Hackett. Our kids deserve it.