WENTZVILLE — Civil rights leaders in St. Charles County are calling on the Wentzville School District to investigate allegations that Black students are being bullied and attacked by classmates while faculty members turn a blind eye.
The St. Charles County NAACP released a statement on Monday saying it stood in solidarity with multiple Black parents and students, who have described name-calling, bullying and physical attacks by students in the district, which is 80% white.
“I don’t blame the children, because this kind of behavior is a learned behavior,†Zebrina Looney, president of the St. Charles County branch of the NAACP, told the Post-Dispatch on Monday. “I blame the culture and the community that allow these kinds of behaviors to continue to be taught.â€
Last week’s school board meeting, which was attended by more than 200 people and included more than two hours of public comment, featured a number of speakers who admonished the district’s governing body for failure to address complaints from Black students and parents regarding instances of racism within the district of more than 17,000 students, one of the state’s largest. Of those students, just 7% are Black, according to district data.
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“You say that you don’t understand how our Black kids are not performing at the same level,†parent Tamara King-Krolik said at the meeting. “How do you expect them to when they’re constantly being assaulted, when they’re constantly receiving verbal threats or when they’re constantly being ignored?â€
Katrina Scott-Butler said her daughter, a former Wentzville High student, suffered from both verbal and physical attacks and dropped out earlier this fall when her “sense of safety and protection became so diminished.†Scott-Butler said, when she tried to share her concerns with administrators, her pleas for intervention “fell on deaf ears.â€
“The Wentzville School District failed my daughter,†Scott-Butler said. She told members of the board that the “district’s culture must undergo fundamental change,†in order to win back the support of minority students and parents who feel marginalized by the district.
The district released a statement on Monday saying it was saddened by the concerns and would address them “head-on.â€
“It has become evident that diversity, equity, and inclusion are areas that require our focus,†the statement said.
Monday’s call to action by the St. Charles County NAACP provides a roadmap for the district if they are serious about winning back support, officials there said.
In its statement Monday, the county NAACP urged Wentzville administrators to “take swift disciplinary action†against those who discriminated against Black and other minority students; to publicly release a “comprehensive plan†to address concerns raised by community members; to implement anti-racism and cultural sensitivity training for all school board members, staff and students; and to have a community-level dialogue to “ensure that all voices are heard and valued.â€
The statement said that the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP stood with the county branch.
Looney said she and her fellow 200-plus St. Charles County NAACP members will be keeping a close eye on the school board’s future meetings to ensure they follow through on the action items.
“In our opinion, these things could all be done at once,†Looney said. “The time for continued waiting is over. The time for action is now.â€
She said she was encouraged by the conversations that happened Thursday night, especially by statements made by second-year Superintendent Danielle Tormala.
Tormala apologized for the mishandling of past incidents and acknowledged that students and stuff deserve schools “free from discrimination and harassment.â€
Tormala, who is white, replaced Curtis Cain, who is Black. Cain, who led the district for nearly a decade and was a finalist for national superintendent of the year in 2022, left the district to lead Rockwood schools following a tumultuous couple of years at Wentzville that also involved allegations of racism within the school system and protests over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tormala has faced repeated calls for her resignation. But she said Thursday that she is “invested in this work†of ending racism in Wentzville’s public schools. She said the district’s administrators are already working internally to create listening sessions that would allow students to come forward and honestly share their firsthand experiences with racism and homophobia within the district.
“The terms diversity, equity and inclusion cannot be dirty words in this district,†she said.
The school board ultimately agreed to revisit the district’s policies on the use of racial slurs.
“Kids don’t ever need to talk in the way that you’ve been describing tonight,†board member Jen Olson said to King-Krolik.
King-Krolik said she doesn’t believe Black parents are asking too much of the district.
“I expect our kids to be judged by their character,†she said, “not by the color of their skin.â€