JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local mom is planning to sue Duval County Public Schools after she alleges students and a teacher at Mandarin Middle School called her son the “n” word.
Her attorney, Jasmine Rand, announced a notice of intent to sue Thursday morning.
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“I’m just baffled, to be honest, that a school can allow this to go on,” Aylise Beechem said.
Beechem alleges her sixth-grade son has been the victim of racism at Mandarin Middle School for months.
In a notice of intent to sue, she claims it started in March, when several students repeatedly called him the ‘n’ word.
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“It upsets me a lot and it upsets him as well,” Beechem said.
The document states the school failed to hold these students accountable when he reported it.
“The school has failed repeatedly to hold these students calling him the “n” word using racism, battering him and physically attacking him, accountable,” Rand said.
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Furthermore, the document states when he told his teacher about it, matters got worse.
“She told him, essentially that, why does it even bother him. Why does it even bother him if he’s called the ‘n’ word because black people can refer to themselves as the ‘n’ word,” Rand said.
Beechem’s attorney also said his teacher then addressed him by the ‘n’ word.
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“She said to him, ‘‘n’ word, you don’t have the privilege to discriminate against white people because black are inferior to white people,’” Rand said.
In the document, Beechem stated she brought complaints to the principal and the dean about the matter.
However, the teacher was not fired and Beechem’s son was removed from the classroom instead.
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Now, Beechem and her attorney say they want to hold everyone involved accountable for violating Beecham’s son’s 14th Amendment rights and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Action News Jax reached out to DCPS for comment.
“The school and the district are aware of this allegation. Because it is a matter of potential future litigation, the district is not able to make any public comments regarding the claims,” said a DCPS spokesperson.
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