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 mes- sages 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 near-daily 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