Following incidents of racist bullying, including a disturbing mock 'slave auction', the Southwick-Tolland-Granville school district was found in violation of the Civil Rights Act. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) ordered corrective actions due to the district's failure to address a hostile environment based on race. This includes revisions to bullying policies and removing the term 'viable' from reporting requirements. The DESE's findings followed a year of complaints, with involvement from civil rights groups and legal actions against several juveniles.
State officials found that the district failed to comply with the Civil Rights Act "because the school knew, or should have known, of a hostile environment based on race."
The corrective actions ordered by DESE involve revisions to the district's bullying policies and measures to educate the school community of those revisions by April 4.
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