Officials with the Plano school district and Plano police department are investigating allegations that classmates abused and bullied a Black middle school student.
Summer Smith said her eighth grader, a student at Haggard Middle School, was at a sleepover party when he was forced to drink a cup of urine. A video of the alleged abuse is circulating on social media.
The boys were white football teammates who Smith said had been bullying and harassing her son for more than a year. And, that she contacted the school and was told the party occurred outside of school hours so they couldn’t do much.
Smith disagrees.
“The videos had been shared with pretty much the entire school,” she said during a press conference Friday afternoon. “Why is that not a school issue? We’re passing around the videos during school hours. Why is that not a school issue? The boys are on the football team. How is that not a school issue?”
Smith’s attorney, Kim T. Cole, wants the incident investigated as a hate crime. The student was called a racial epithet — the N-word — numerous times, she said.
Cole said she's heard from many parents with similar stories.
“They were subjected to all kinds of torture and abuse from other teammates at the school,” Cole said. “Plano ISD is aware of this and yet they’ve done nothing.… We will not stand for it.”
Police say they can't release more information because the incident is under investigation.
A district spokeswoman said Plano ISD is aware of the bullying allegations and is working with law enforcement to investigate. The district also said harassing behavior is not condoned or tolerated.
A statement from Plano ISD said "appropriate measures were promptly taken to protect the victim," and the district aims to address concerns "to serve the best interests of all Plano ISD students."
An online petition urging the district to take action on the bullying has gone viral, receiving over 40,000 signatures in under 24 hours.
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