GENEVA, Ohio — The Ohio NAACP is investigating allegations of racism at Geneva Area Schools. The organization’s involvement was prompted by complaints from about a dozen different families in the district.
“If it was just a case of all kids bullying all kids, it would be one thing. But this is isolated. This is racially intended. They’re going after a group of students who are either biracial or Afro-American,” said Liz Penna, the president of NAACP Ashtabula branch.
She explained the families’ concerns range from interactions with teachers to bullying from peers to even more alarming claims.
“We’ve had screenshots of threats against them. There was one student that threatened to bring a gun into the school and shoot all of the quote-unquote ‘African American’ kids, for lack of a better word,” Penna said.
One mother, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation against her children, told News 5 she was one of the first to reach out to the NAACP Ashtabula branch because of bullying her biracial middle schoolers have experienced.
“There have been both physical and verbal issues that they have experienced… from racial slurs to comments being made, hair pulling, comments about hair texture,” she said. “At one point, my daughter had tried to scrub her skin off because she no longer wanted to be brown. She thought that by doing that, it would eliminate these issues.”
Since she voiced her concerns in January, more parents have come forward.
Ricardo Velazquez plans to move his 5-year-old to a private school next year because of what he’s experienced.
“This is his first year, so I really wanted it to be a good year for him, but I feel like he lost that,” Velazquez said.
He told News 5 his kindergartner had been sent home for illness numerous times even though he was not sick. The repeated absences led to a truancy warning for the family.
At the beginning of the year, the child was placed with a Spanish-speaking therapist, despite not speaking Spanish. Velazquez believes it was a judgment based on his last name.
“It bothered me because I didn’t know what to think… Why was he in that class? We told you guys he speaks English. We speak English. I’ve gone to this school my whole life, this district my whole life. I speak English. There’s no sense,” he said.
Velazquez graduated from Geneva High School in 2013 and had hoped to see his son follow in his footsteps.
“Yeah, that was my dream. But now it doesn’t look like it’s going to be like that,” he said.
Penna has shared families’ stories and concerns at the school board meeting, but said conversations with the district have not been productive.
News 5 reached out to Geneva Area Schools for comment. Superintendent Dr. Terri Hrina-Treharn responded with the following statement:
"The district takes all allegations seriously and conducts a thorough investigation. We apply our policies and procedures and comply with those standards. When threats are made, they are swiftly investigated in conjunction with local law enforcement as school safety is our number one priority. Any student(s) found to have made the threat are then disciplined. Currently, the district is conducting our own internal investigation regarding racial allegations."
The Ohio NAACP and state Civil Rights Commission are also looking into the allegations. Penna believes both staff and students should receive equity, diversity and inclusion training. If concerns continue, she said a lawsuit against the district could be an option.
Parents like Velazquez hope the district makes change and inclusion a priority.
“It shouldn’t matter if you’re rich or poor or black or white or whatever here, honestly. We should be able to all get along because it’s our kids at the end of the day,” he said.
NAACP leaders plan to hold a community meeting on Wednesday, May 3 in Geneva and encourage families with similar concerns to attend. Reach out to Penna at lizepenna@yahoo.com for details.
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