AUSTIN, Texas — Black students being disproportionately affected by school disciplinary policies continue to be an issue around the country.
As school districts lay out their plans for a safe return to in-person classes, one local student is hoping new disciplinary practices that do not disproportionately lead Black students down the school-to-prison pipeline are also part of the conversation.
"She made the highest grade out of the entire school," said Temperance Darden's mother, Kristina Ologban.
Ologban said her 12-year-old daughter excelled through elementary school.
"She was like, 'Yes, I'm going to middle school,'" said Ologban. "'I get to meet new people.'"
Ologban said her daughter's excitement to start the 2019 school year quickly came to an end a few days after attending O’Henry Middle School in the Austin Independent School District.
“She ran to my car and was just crying and just saying, 'I hate this school. I don't want to come here anymore,'" said Ologban.
The then 11-year-old said other kids bullied her simply for being Black.
"They would call me the n-word," said Darden. "They would say I should go back to Africa."
Darden said the bullying continued.
"I was racially bullied by multiple students over 30 times," said Darden.
Despite filing dozens of complaints and multiple meetings with the principal, Ologban said her daughter’s cries went unheard.
"I was just blown off," said Ologban. "She just said, well, Temperance needs to learn that there are people in this world that may not like her."
The bullying didn't stop and led to what Darden said was her first in-school fight.
"There are policies in place around bullying and none of the protocols were followed in this particular case," said founder of the Excellence and Advancement Foundation Dr. Courtney Robinson.
The school expelled the sixth-grader. Ologban said the district tried to send her then 11-year-old daughter to Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center but she removed her from the district before AISD could do so.
Ologban and her daughter said the parents of the student who was also involved in the fight pressed charges. Now Darden's record is physical assault with injury to a student. A judge sentenced her to four months of probation.
"During probation, I had to take a pee test and I had to come up to Gardener Betts once every month," said Temperance.
"We have to ensure that five years down the road when she's getting ready to apply for college, that this isn't in the back of her head," said Robinson.
Robinson is helping Darden get her criminal record cleaned. She is the founder of the Excellence and Advancement Foundation, created to help Black and Brown students get out of the school-to-prison pipeline.
The connection between incarceration and school disciplinary policies have disproportionately affected Black students across the U.S. for decades.
According to Texas Appleseed, in 2015 ,Black youth in Texas were referred to juvenile probation for school-related offenses at a rate almost three times higher than their white counterparts.
The disparity is even worse in Austin Independent School District, according to data from KVUE's news partners at the Austin American-Statesman. The newspaper found in AISD's 2018-19 school year, Black students were suspended at nearly five times the rate of white students.
"We can't just allow schools to treat Black and Brown children just however, as if they are disposable," said Robinson. "Schools should be doing anti-racist training not just once as like a checkbox, but they should be doing it ongoing."
Darden said in her case she was the only student punished for the fight against a white student.
Data gathered by Texas Appleseed reported from 2011 to 2015, Black students in Texas received 32% of school-based tickets and 22% of arrests when they make up only 13% of students in Texas.
AISD released this statement:
"Austin ISD leadership has implemented a variety of measures to eliminate disparities in disciplinary outcomes across student groups. These measures include a policy enacted in 2017 to no longer suspend students in Pre-K to second grade and the introduction of restorative practices in our schools. All student behavior is a communication and it is our job as educators to work with the students through Social Emotional Learning to determine the root causes of behaviors and work toward solutions."
"We have to change those policies and separate juvenile justice and school," said Robinson. "Schools should be a safe place, but our student code of conduct, all of these policies, need to look at how we mitigate harm."
Darden said she won't allow being expelled to hinder her from following her dreams.
"I want to be a lawyer then a judge," said Darden.
Until she reaches her goal of becoming a lawyer to help children in the juvenile justice system, she will use her story to spread awareness and hopefully influence policy change.
AISD said this equity-focused decision-making plan highlights a road map to more equitable decision-making habits. The district's chief equity officer, Dr. Stephanie Hawley, told KVUE in a June interview they've recently created a district-wide, comprehensive equity plan and they're in the first phase of that plan. They've talked with hundreds of internal and external people to specify the challenges the district faces. They've also discussed solutions to those challenges.
The equity office is taking comments until Oct. 30. In-person classes are expected to start on Oct. 6.
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