In a recently published research report commissioned by the district, a three-member review team learned that Izzy was told by classmates and teachers that she smelled and needed to take a bath, but found no “direct evidence” that the girl had been bullied on the basis of race or her disability. The review team noted that “issues related to race, disability and poverty sometimes intersect and when they do, they can further complicate already difficult situations. It can be very difficult to get rid of others.” “When a student told Izzy she had to wash her hair, this comment could have come from racial hostility, it could have been a harmless observation or it could have been a hidden insult to poverty,” the report said. The findings show, however, that the school failed to protect Izzy by rejecting and failing to promptly investigate her mother’s claim that Izzy had been bullied. The report also found that Foxboro staff did not show “real knowledge” of the definition of “bullying” district and that the school encouraged an atmosphere in which bullying … could not be reported, investigated and investigated. not treated “. Izzy’s death came weeks after the Department of Justice publicly unveiled a disturbing pattern in the Davis School District, where black and Asian American students were harassed for years and officials deliberately ignored parent and student complaints. The findings of the Ministry of Justice emerged in a report and settlement agreement published in October. The service has been investigating the school district since July 2019. Tyler Ayres, a lawyer representing the Tichenor family, declined to comment on the story. She previously told CNN that the family sought teachers and school leadership to report that Izzy had been repeatedly teased and felt unaware. Izzy’s mother, Brittany Tichenor-Cox, did not respond to a request for comment. Neither Ayres nor Izzy’s mother agreed to participate in the independent school district review, the report said. In a statement, the Davis School District said it was reviewing the report’s recommendations and sent condolences to Izzy’s family. “We take this seriously. We are committed to continuing our ongoing and extensive efforts to create a welcoming environment for all students in the Davis School District,” the statement said.
Report: Izzy was not “explicitly” bullied because she was Black or autistic
The school received reports of bullying allegations, but it took months for staff to set up an official file, and only did so after learning that Izzy had attempted suicide, the report said. Tichenor-Cox reported three incidents that began in September 2021, including one in which Izzy’s sister was allegedly named by a student, the report said. Tichenor-Cox contacted school officials saying the same schoolgirl had allegedly threatened her children and told them she had a gun, the report said. School staff reviewed the surveillance video and searched the student’s backpack three days later, concluding that they could not support the allegations, the report said. One week later, Tichenor-Cox said that “the same student called Izzy’s sister ‘N-word’ and touched her.” The school could not confirm the alleged incident after examining the surveillance video and talking to two “potential witnesses,” the report said. However, school officials found it “more likely than not” that the clash took place and decided to exclude the student, barring him from eating breakfast in the school cafeteria and forcing both parties – the student and the children Tichenor – – to sign agree to avoid each other. The report did not say whether Izzy knew or witnessed the alleged incidents. The school told the district that it may need to investigate racial bullying, but did not specifically mention the Tichenors. While the report says that none of the more than 40 school staff and students surveyed recalled that Izzy was “explicitly” intimidated because she was black or autistic, many said that students and teachers commented on her hygiene. Tichenor-Cox complained to a teacher that one of Izzy’s classmates was bullying Izzy, telling her she smelled and had to wash her hair, the report said. A special education teacher told the assessment team that she told Izzy she smelled and asked her if she had taken a shower, the report said. At one point, Tichenor-Cox complained to the teacher who told the class that they “smelled” and said that Izzy sprayed Febreze on herself before going to school after hearing these comments, the report said. The Independent Review also found that no records show a diagnosis of autism in Izzy. Her mother had asked school principals for an assessment in the fall of 2020, the report said, but never brought Izzy for the observation and testing requested. Her mother submitted another request for evaluation in September 2021, which was conducted in October, but the evaluation was not completed when Izzy died, the report said. Based on its report, the group recommends that the school district educate its staff on how to recognize and address bullying, provide diversity and equality sessions, and “trauma, poverty education.” Foxboro Elementary should also establish clear protocols for keeping records and reporting bullying, the report said. The Utah chapter of Black Lives Matter said in a statement that they were “disappointed but not surprised” by the report’s findings.
