The Douglas County School District is asking a federal judge to rule that there isn’t enough evidence for a high-profile case — brought by four families who say their Black and biracial children faced repeated racial harassment in middle and high school — to go to trial.
In order for a summary judgment, the district must show that no reasonable jury could find that a district school was deliberately indifferent after learning about racial harassment in classrooms, hallways and chat groups. The district argues it responded appropriately to each incident it knew about and can’t be held responsible for misconduct that was never reported to school administrators.
The lawsuit filed in 2023 alleged the racial discrimination experienced by several students between 2020 and 2023 was inadequately addressed by the district. One student, Jeramiah Ganzy, then 14, alleged he faced pervasive racism and bullying at Castle Rock Middle School. A group Snapchat used by more than 100 students targeted and bullied Black and biracial students with racially derogatory, humiliating racist tropes and offensive slurs…