The Plano school district is hiring an outside investigator to look into allegations white students bullied and used racial slurs against a Black Haggard Middle School classmate.
Plano Superintendent Sara Bonser met Tuesday with Summer Smith, the mother of the teenager who says he was bullied by former football teammates into drinking urine at a sleepover party where he was also called racial slurs.
Bonser called the acts inexcusable.
“This is not ok,” she told a room of reporters. “I said that. I’ll say it again. It’s not ok. That child should never have had to experience that. Ever. It’s our job to do something together about this.”
Bonser, who was joined by the Plano mayor and police chief, said there's no place for bullying, harassment or racism in schools or anywhere.
“So we will continue to persist in improving any system, processes, procedures, actions that need to happen to move this district forward,” Bonser said. She added that the mother and her kids are hurting.
Plano mayor Harry LaRosiliere, a Black man, said in a city of 300,000, it's inevitable there will be racism.
“All we can do is, number one, find a way to support this young man. That is the most important thing, is to help him heal,” said LaRosiliere. “And make sure we mitigate any circumstances that can allow this to ever happen again.”
Members of the 13-year-old's family say they have received threats connected to the allegations, and Bonser says Plano ISD has too.
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