Families call for accountability after ‘racial taunting’ at Tooele County elementary school
GRANTSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) – Reports of racism in Tooele County are putting the spotlight on Grantsville Elementary School.
Utah civic attorney Tyler Ayres claims some students at the school are victims of racist bullying. He says the school isn’t taking action.
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“I do believe that Utah has the worst racism problem in the country right now,” Ayres said. “Until we acknowledge the huge racism problem here, we are not going to make enough progress.”
Ayres put out a press release Thursday saying a pair of Grantsville Elementary students were “racially taunting” and “physically intimidating” a younger Black student.
He said when that student went to a teacher for help on Thursday, the teacher responded with, “I don’t care.”
Ayres said another Black student was bullied so much, they left the school.
Now these students’ families, along with Ayres and Black Lives Matter Utah leader Rae Duckworth, say they’ve reported this to the school, the district, and to Grantsville police, asking them all to be accountable.
“It’s 2023 and we’re still using racial slurs? Schools should be no-slur zones,” Duckworth said. “There should be no slur tolerated in an environment that’s dedicated to education.”
Tooele County School District said it’s aware of an investigation happening at the school.
“Upon notification, district administration promptly collaborated with Grantsville Police to address the accusations,” the district said in a statement. “We remain dedicated to ensuring a safe learning environment for our students and teachers.”
Now, Ayres, Duckworth, and the students’ families are hoping for results and change.
“We’re not standing here saying that Grantsville Elementary School has evil children,” Ayres said. “They have regular children, but they have children that need to be disciplined, and children that need to see the discipline.”
He said he’s not looking at filing a lawsuit now, but if the school and district don’t cooperate and make changes, a lawsuit is not out of the question.
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