It’s been two months since the mother of a Southwick Regional School student went before the local school committee and grilled the district over its handling of racist bullying.
Allyson Lopez spoke at length about what her teenage daughter, Skyla, was subjected to when a group of white students allegedly held a mock slave auction on Snapchat, placing bids on Black students, as well as allegedly posting slurs. Skyla was a target.
Following an internal investigation, suspensions were issued.
After further calls by both Lopez and the Greater Springfield NAACP chapter, an investigation involving Southwick police and the Hampden District Attorney’s office led to charges.
But between the DA’s investigation and the district’s initial actions, Lopez expressed her frustration, claiming several students involved in the incident were back in school within days.
“Why are the students back in school? Why is there no accountability?” Lopez asked the committee for the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District. “How are they back in school in 48 hours and my baby’s staying home for three weeks? How is that possible? How do you think that's OK?”
Of those suspended, two faced suspensions for at least 25 days, and another student faced a suspension lasting as long as 45, the DA's office said.
The handling of the bullying is now the subject of a federal discrimination complaint, filed by the legal organization Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR).
The legal document was submitted to the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, and names Skyla and Allyson Lopez as complainants.
It was filed against both the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District and the Southwick Regional School, citing quote “ongoing and persistent failure to prevent and remedy racial harassment that Skyla has experienced.”
Tasheena Davis, a litigation fellow with LCR and one of the members who submitted the complaint, spoke with WAMC about how Skyla first came in contact with the mock slave auction.
“It wasn't until she got to school that she actually got to see screenshots on someone else's phone of the actual bidding on her that she, of course, like anyone, was horrified - she was crying, she was upset,” Davis said. “And once I saw the story, I felt the same way - my ability to empathize with her was very strong.”
Davis says coverage of the incident in Southwick led to her reaching out to the local NAACP chapter, led by Bishop Talbert Swan, who connected her with the Lopez family.
She says the racial bullying endured by Skyla at her school had been going on before the Snapchat auction in early February.
The complaint details several occasions leading up to the incident, with some involving white students allegedly using the n-word either directly in reference to Skyla or in a situation with her present.
Another incident involved a student calling attention to Skyla’s hair, allegedly disparaging the braids she once wore.
“- there was no widespread campaign or anything given out to the students to let them know this wouldn't be tolerated until after the mock slave auction occurred,” she said. “It had to reach this boiling point for anything to be done when the duty of the district is to actually curb this kind of incident, to curb this kind of bullying.”
The complaint asks the Office for Civil Rights to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the school district’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VI quote “provides that no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Davis says she and her team are awaiting a response from the office.
School superintendent Jennifer Willard responded to a request for comment with a written statement, saying the district will review the complaint and work with legal counsel to address it.
"The Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District will review the complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and work with legal counsel and the OCR to address the complaint," the statement read.
In addition to immediate suspensions issued by school authorities, charges were later filed against at least six eighth-graders as part of the Hampden DA’s investigation.
District Attorney Anthony Gulluni announced the charges in mid-March.
“There is no question that the alleged behavior in this case, of these six juveniles, is vile, cruel and contemptible,” he said during a news conference. “Seeing it and facing the reality that these thoughts, that this ugliness can exist within middle school students, here, in this community, in 2024, is discouraging, unsettling and deeply frustrating.”
The charges for all six students included threat to commit a crime. Two faced an additional charge of interference with civil rights, while one of those two also faced a charge of interference.
Davis called the DA’s actions a milestone for Massachusetts and an example for others as well.
“It's not very often that you see a district attorney get involved in these types of types of incidences,” she said. “And the fact that he's sending a message, that hate crimes will not be allowed in Massachusetts school districts, is impressive.”
