THE WOODLANDS, Texas — The Greater Houston Coalition for Justice is demanding further action be taken against the Conroe Independent School District after a student’s family was disappointed in an administrator’s response to a racist threat sent to their daughter via Snapchat at The Woodlands High School.
TWHS Principal Jill Houser offered to transfer the African-American student to a different school in the district after the girl and a white American classmate got into an argument on Snapchat, during which the boy made a disturbing statement. Houser also offered the student excused absences, the coalition said.
“We should have hung all u n****s while we had the chance and trust me it would have made the world better,” a portion of the message read.
The student’s parents told Houser that they feared for their child’s safety, and the principal offered to meet with them to discuss the incident. In the letter, Houser told the parents that their daughter express she wasn’t bother by the message.
“We would like for [name omitted] to be in school and for her to feel safe here.” Houser said in the letter. “We are happy to consider any suggests about additional steps we can take to make her feel safe at school.”
The school had already changed the classmate’s schedule and his lunch period to prevent the two students from see each other, according to Houser’s letter. The school also limited his access to electronic devices and his ability to leave class during periods, the note added.
“An option that we have not discussed, is allowing her to transfer to another CISD campus, if she would feel more safe at another school,” the letter read.
“The Greater Houston Coalition For Justice denounces Conroe ISD’s principal’s reprehensible approval of bigotry and racism to florish in the classroom. We will not tolerate such injustice to continue by issuing a public statement and a call for state and federal government to impose sanctions on Conroe ISD,” Johnny N. Mata, GHCFJ presiding Chairman.
“This racial intimidation has no place in civilized society. Dangerous students can be suspended or expelled before there is another school mass shooting.” said civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen.
CISD officials released the following statement regarding the incident:
Although the comments made on Snapchat occurred over a weekend and not on campus, Conroe ISD does not tolerate behavior of this type. The campus administered several levels of disciplinary consequences and continues to work with the students involved and their parents. Due to privacy laws, the campus cannot share all of the steps it has taken, but campus and District administration are committed to providing safe and caring learning environments for all of our students. Furthermore, reinforcing respect for others and building unity continues to be a top priority across our campuses as it is in our communities, and we are researching additional resources to support our students with these essential life principles.
