The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with the Elmore-Morristown Unified Union School District (EMUU) in Vermont to resolve its investigation into allegations that the district failed to adequately respond to student-on-student racial harassment.
The investigation, conducted jointly by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, concluded that the district did not appropriately respond to serious and widespread harassment of Black and biracial students by their peers, primarily at Peoples Academy Middle Level. Harassed students endured frequent slurs and racist imagery, and a hostile environment where the use of the N-word and displays of confederate flags and Nazi symbols and salutes were commonplace.
“Racial harassment makes students feel unsafe, deprives them of a supportive educational environment and violates the Constitution’s most basic promise of equal protection,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “In the 21st century, no student should be subjected to racial slurs, Nazi salutes or other racially-charged hostilities. This agreement provides sound strategies for preventing and addressing racial harassment. We look forward to the district demonstrating to its students that racial bullying and harassment have no place in its schools.”
“This settlement represents an important step towards ensuring that students of the Elmore-Morristown Unified Union School District are able to attend school without the fear of racial harassment,” said U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest for the District of Vermont. “The measures set forth in the settlement will help guide the school district towards swift and appropriate responses should any instances of racial bullying or harassment occur. In addition, all Vermont school administrators must take note. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring that our schools are free from racial harassment and will take action if school districts are not addressing this destructive behavior.”
The department opened its investigation in December 2023 under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The department reviewed records and complaints from three school years, beginning with the 2021-22 school year, and interviewed administrators, teachers and parents.
The district cooperated fully throughout the investigation and has already implemented some improvements, including adoption of a central reporting system it plans to use to track harassment incidents and ensure victims of repeated harassment are not overlooked.
Under the agreement, EMUU will:
- Revise its anti-harassment policies and procedures to clarify that they cover conduct that is not directly aimed at a specific student but contributes to a hostile environment;
- Annually conduct multifaceted campus climate assessments, including listening sessions with student groups, and take responsive action to address identified concerns; and
- Educate students and train employees on the district’s policies and procedures for addressing race-based harassment.
Protecting the constitutional rights of public-school students is a top priority of the Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justive.gov/crt/ and additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s Educational Opportunities Section’s work is available at www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section. Information about the District of Vermont’s Civil Rights Program is available at www.justice.gov/usao-vt/civil-rights-program.
To report a possible civil rights violation, please visit www.civilrights.justice.gov/.
Picture by DOJ on Picryl (c publicdomain)
