TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman and the Division on Civil Rights announced today that the Board of Education in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, has agreed to pay an African-American student $75,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to effectively address race-based bullying aimed at her when she attended elementary school in the district.

In addition to paying the student, who is now a teenager, the Franklin school board also must allocate at least $2,500 under the settlement for creation of an anti-bullying awareness program to be used in the district during the 2014-2015 school year.

The harassed girl attended the Franklin elementary district’s Main Road School from 2005 through 2009. The student-on-student bullying aimed at her included race-based name calling and other bias-driven remarks, and went on from the time she was in third-grade through the end of her sixth-grade year. The Division is withholding the student's name because she is a minor.

“This settlement represents a fair resolution to a disturbing matter,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman.  “As we begin another school year, this case should serve as a reminder to school districts throughout the state that they have a duty to New Jersey’s children to create and maintain a bullying-free learning environment, and that they have a legal responsibility when confronted with reports that a student is being bullied to take affirmative steps ‘reasonably calculated’ to end the conduct.”

“No child should have to endure the kind of alleged harassment that took place in this case,” said Division on Civil Rights Director Craig T. Sashihara. “The student conduct described here was deplorable. And one of the issues we continue to stress statewide, through awareness and enforcement, is that school districts are responsible for implementing a genuinely effective response when this kind of student-on-student activity is reported.”

The Franklin school district has denied that it engaged in unlawful discrimination, or that the girl was a victim of a hostile school environment. The district has asserted that any incidents of harassment or bullying reported by the student were investigated immediately by administrators and acted on appropriately.

However, a Finding of Probable Cause issued by the Division on Civil Rights in May 2011 noted that the alleged harassment persisted over a four-year span despite numerous complaints from the girl’s parents to the school’s principal and the Franklin Township schools superintendent.

Director Sashihara also noted that, for school districts, merely responding to isolated incidents in a vacuum may not be effective when school officials know that the child is being subjected to a wider pattern of on-going bullying and harassment. While the district in this case did take some action in response to the parents’ complaints, the Division on Civil Rights determined in its Finding of Probable Cause that the actions taken were not effective since the harassment recurred and, in fact, became more severe.

In addition to the financial terms of settlement, the Franklin school district has agreed to review and revise, as necessary, its policy regarding student harassment, intimidation and bullying to ensure compliance with the requirements set forth in New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights. The policy must be posted on the school district’s Web site, and a hard copy must be available at each of the district’s schools. 

The District also must ensure that all school personnel responsible for investigating and responding to complaints of harassment, intimidation and bullying receive appropriate training. The settlement calls on the district to provide the Division on Civil Rights the names and titles of such personnel, and the details of their training.

Although the parties involved agreed to all terms, the Franklin settlement required a review hearing before a State Superior Court Judge in Gloucester County, because the Complainant is a minor.  On September 3, Superior Court Judge Jean B. McMaster presided over such a hearing, and subsequently approved the settlement.  

Deputy Attorneys General James Michael, Farng-Yi Foo and Investigator Alexander Garcon handled the Franklin Board of Education matter on behalf of the State.

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