The federal Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, served notice to the Park City School District electronically Thursday afternoon. The action stems from complaints of racist bullying at Ecker Hill Middle School.
The OCR is part of the U.S. Department of Education; it enforces federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination in schools.
A spokesman for that office would not comment on the case specifically other than to say investigations vary in duration. In Utah, six other public school racial harassment cases are currently open – two in Alpine School District, one in Salt Lake City, one in Nebo, one in Canyons and one in Jordan.
Season Cain, whose family is Jewish, filed the complaint against Park City School District this month.
Cain said her daughter, who is an Ecker Hill student, experienced antisemitic bullying in which another student got in her face saying “KKK.” She said her daughter also witnessed friends being called racial slurs several times.
Email exchanges between Cain and Ecker Hill Principal Amy Jenkins on the subject date back to last fall. Jenkins initially said she’d alert the school community about the incidents, then later directed Cain to Carolyn Synan. Synan is Director of Student Services for the district.
Cain explained that she told Synan in December why she thought more needed to be done.
“I said my goal is to provide education and awareness to protect our youth against bullying and suicide," Cain said "And I said more and more incidences are occurring. So let’s provide education and awareness to prevent further incidences from happening and further damage. She says ‘you're right, something more specific does need to be sent out and I am going to do it.’”
In December Jenkins sent an email about kindness, with descriptions of how some students were treating school property. It didn’t touch on discrimination, which dismayed Cain and other parents.
“I repeatedly asked, why is it okay that you give specific examples of damage done to computers but you will not give specific examples of damage done to students?”
She said Synan told her school code prevented the district from describing discrimination specifically. Cain said she asked to read that code and Synan directed her to another administrator who didn’t provide it.
Then the district reversed course; Jenkins sent an email to Ecker Hill families Feb. 8 with specific descriptions of racist language being used.
Synan also emailed Cain that the subject would be brought to an internal district committee to develop a policy-based approach to it.
Cain also said her daughter asked to start a school club for kids experiencing bullying, and district officials eventually told her that was not allowed due to rules governing student clubs.
The Park City School District administration will not comment on the investigation, according to Lorie Pearce, who’s executive assistant to schools superintendent Jill Gildea.
Another parent who asked that her name not be used in this report described her experience as a mother of two Black children in the district.
She said a white student targeted her family for years before being expelled last year for calling her son racial slurs. The student returned to school this year, as is allowed under state law, and was expelled again after more racist behavior.
Now her daughter is experiencing the same thing from different students. The parent said she’s emailed and spoken with district officials for over a year about slurs and bullying.
She said she’d like to see the subject treated as a higher priority, with frank communication and stiffer penalties.
Bari Nan Cohen Rothchild is a parent of two students in the district – one former and one current. She described her family’s and friends’ instances of discrimination as too numerous to count. She said those started with her children being bullied for not celebrating Christmas because they’re Jewish and continued into high school, when she said a teacher was fired over antisemitic comments made in her son’s class.
Rothchild said she believes the district has missed opportunities to educate families and employees about racial discrimination.
“I have seen as a pattern across the years and years and years now," she said. "Every incident has been treated like a one off no matter what it is.”
Rothchild highlighted that it has been exactly a year since a Jewish high school teacher found a swastika drawn in his classroom, and the district hasn’t added educational curriculum or teacher training on identifying and handling racist language and behavior.
“If we keep treating things like they only happen the one time and then we're going to just extinguish the fire you're actually adding fuel to it because if you don't talk about things they keep happening,” she said.
The OCR declined to comment on how long the investigation could take. Some ongoing investigations in Utah have been open for well over a year.
