A Jordan-Elbridge mother and son who criticized the school district for its handling of racist harassment he experienced have now filed a federal lawsuit against the district.
Melissa Ellingworth and her son, Trevor, filed the lawsuit against the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District and its board of education in July in Onondaga County Supreme Court. They accuse the district of knowing about but failing to take action against harassment Trevor experienced as a junior high student there in 2023 and 2024, causing him emotional distress and leading him to switch schools.
The case was moved to U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, in September.聽
The lawsuit details several incidents of harassment Trevor experienced, including students mocking his race by saying "if I'm wearing black I am black," referring to him as "the brown kid," making "offensive guttural noises" they called "native talk," suggesting he bleach his skin, calling him the N-word, stealing his chocolate milk "because he's Black," and saying they were asserting "white power."
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As reported by 人兽性交 last year, Melissa filed six Dignity for All Students Act complaints and told administrators about the incidents. But no action was taken, the lawsuit says.

Trevor Ellingworth left the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District after racist bullying by fellow students.
Administrators later told Melissa her complaints were "founded," the lawsuit continues, but they simply called the students "knuckleheads" and suggested Trevor switch lunch tables.
In March 2023, two students were given in-school suspension for calling Trevor the N-word. The district drafted a plan for responding to his anxiety, the lawsuit says, but not protecting him from further harassment. The next year, teachers failed to act when he was again called the N-word in a class and when a student made a racist comment during a reading of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
One of those students also made "whip-cracking sounds and gestures" at Trevor and described his skin color as a "1980s tan." But the district's non-intervention continued, the lawsuit says.聽
After developing anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts, Trevor transferred to a private high school costing $18,000 a year, the lawsuit says. It seeks an unspecified amount of damages for those costs and his emotional pain and suffering, as well as changes in the anti-discrimination policies of the school district and attorney fees.
The district's superintendent, James Froio, declined comment on the lawsuit to 人兽性交. The district has filed a motion to dismiss it.
Sean Gleason, senior counsel at the firm representing the Ellingworths, Tully Rinckey, told 人兽性交 they believe Jordan-Elbridge failed to meet its legal obligations under the Dignity for All Students Act.
"We believe there was racial discrimination and deliberate indifference," he said. "This poor gentleman was mistreated for almost a two-year period, and his complaints were ignored."
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