North Canton City Schools disciplines students for racial insults made on bus

NORTH CANTON – The North Canton City School District has disciplined middle school students who used racially divisive language to insult another student on a school bus last week.

The insults were captured in a video recording made by the 12-year-old female victim and shared with the district.

"We expect that our kids will respect people, property and diversity," said Superintendent Jeff Wendorf, adding that the district teaches students to ask themselves if they're treating others the way they would want to be treated and if they're respecting others despite their differences. "We feel that we've rectified the situation. At least identified it. And we'll continue to have conversation with kids about what's appropriate and what's not. Certainly, this is not appropriate."

He said the school district received the video from the girl's mother Thursday afternoon and investigated what happened. Wendorf said Middle School principal David Eby by noon Friday had disciplined the students "making inappropriate comments" on the school bus. Wendorf did not specify what the discipline was or how the students were identified.

He said the district does not tolerate such inappropriate comments, which are not in accordance with the district's values.

The mother contacted the Canton Repository and shared two videos captured by a smartphone. The camera is pointed down so only audio is heard and no video of the children who made the comments is seen.

The Canton Repository has opted not to repeat the insults used.

At one point, the girl asks: "Why is everybody on this bus so racist to everybody?"

The girl attends St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School in Louisville. But she's transported to and from her school ion a North Canton City Schools bus. She said in an interview with the Repository that North Canton Middle School students on her bus have been making racially insensitive remarks since December.

“It offends me because I hate to see people judge me based on the color I am," the girl said. "It just makes no sense."

The girl, who is Black, said she recorded the comments “because I was really upset and I wanted to show my mom how they were treating me and other people on the bus.”

The girl's mother, Angela Curry of Lake Township, called for the child who made the insensitive remarks to be suspended from school and riding the bus.

"It's definitely inappropriate. And it needs to be addressed with his parents because this isn't acceptable behavior," said Curry.

She added that earlier complaints she had made about other insensitive remarks on her daughter's bus to the school official who oversees the district's busing had not resulted in any action. And then Thursday, she emailed the video clips to the principal of the North Canton Middle School.

Curry faulted the bus driver for not immediately stopping the vehicle, demanding the child cease his insensitive remarks and taking control of the situation.

The girl's mother said she's seen a pattern of behavior in the school district that's troubled her.

Curry said another of her daughters, who is Black, three years ago had attended North Canton Middle School in eighth grade. And in a play about the Roman Empire, one of her teachers had compelled her to play the role of a slave, saying they needed to make the play more realistic and implied that her grade depended on her doing it.

Curry said the other students then mocked her daughter while she acted in the role of a slave attached to a mock chain hooked to her desk. She said her daughter was the only Black student in the class.

Curry said when she complained to Wendorf about this, he said it was inappropriate and he would talk to the teacher about it.

"Nothing ever gets done, ever. Nothing gets done," Curry said.

Wendorf did not respond to a question about Curry's statement about her other daughter being compelled to play a slave.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton students disciplined for making racial insults on bus