Mom upset with reaction to racist bullying

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

A group chat involving Castle Rock Middle School students evolved into bullying with racial slurs and threats that targeted Black and biracial students for months.

Lacey Ganzy told Colorado Community Media that her son, Jeramiah, an eighth grader at the school, was invited by other students to a student group chat on Snapchat in February. Soon after, he received frequent messages using the N-word. Two students threatened violence against Black people.

In addition to the group chat, Jeramiah said a school administrator earlier questioned him recently about a stolen water bottle, insinuating Jeramiah couldn’t a ord one of his own. His mother considers the insinuation to be racial pro ling. Jeramiah added in an interview that students have called him a monkey and the N-word at school.

e messages in the group were bigoted, including one where a student said

“bring back the Holocaust,” and another threatening violence. Screenshots of the messages were provided to Colorado Community Media by Ganzy.

During Tuesday’s special school board meeting, Superintendent Erin Kane told Colorado Community Media that she has spoken to the Ganzy family to address what has happened to Jeramiah.

“I want to make it really really clear that racial slurs are not OK,” she said.

Ganzy said Jeramiah reported his experiences with racism to the district through a feedback form on its website on March 10, but did not get a response. Weeks later, on April 19, Ganzy learned that her son was being bullied, including what she was told was neardaily racism. She reported it to Castle Rock Middle School and Douglas County School District administrators the next day. She also reported it to the Castle Rock Police Department.

Ganzy provided recordings of conversations between her and district administrators that took place on April 20. According to the recording, the student in the group chat who advocated for a second Holocaust received a ve-day suspension. A second student, who threatened to shoot Black people, had not been suspended as of April 25.

Deputy Superintendent Danelle Hiatt is the administrator in the recording, according to Ganzy. Hiatt told Ganzy in the meeting that the district would be addressing the issue. Hiatt also

“I’m just really disgusted by what you’ve shown me on your phone about the behavior of our students and it is not OK,” Hiatt said on

Meanwhile, Ganzy has not allowed Jeramiah to go to school since April 20, fearing “He’s the victim, but he’s the one not in school,” she said. “He’s being robbed of Ganzy added that she’s concerned that Jeramiah’s experience shows the district is failing to create a safe environment for all students and that it needs to improve diversity, equity and inclusion.

“ ey consider hate crimes the same as bullying in every handbook in Douglas County,” she said. e Douglas County School District will discuss the proposed equity policy during a workshop on May 8. e policy has been a source of controversy for the district since 2020.

BY JENNIFER BROWN THE COLORADO SUN

An increasing number of clinics and hospitals in Colorado are trying to address the social issues that a ect their patients’ health — lack of warm clothes and school supplies, food scarcity and unsafe housing. e problem is, the state’s Medicaid insurance program does not reimburse for that work. is could change, though, as state lawmakers approved a plan Wednesday that could lead to a $12 million-$14 million annual program to fund the community health work that bolsters traditional medical care. e work — linking patients to housing assistance, food pantries, nonpro ts that provide school supplies and attorneys who ght unsafe housing conditions — is covered in 15 other states. e bipartisan legislation, now headed to the governor’s desk, directs the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to seek federal approval for its plan, which could see its rst reimbursements in 2025. e Colorado plan is based on reimbursing community health work at $39.34 per hour, which is the rate in Nevada and South Dakota. e state and federal government would split