Conroe ISD Takes No Action In Student Racist Snapchat Incident

CONROE, TX — The Conroe Independent School District has declined to take punitive action action against a white male student who allegedly sent a racists Snapchat message to a female African-American student in September, referring the parents of the African-American student to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Family members of the girl met with Conroe ISD Superintendent Don Stockton and school administrators on Monday, and were told the district would provide crisis counseling and offered to rearrange the girl’s schedule to avoid any contact with the boy, but declinecd to take punitive action against the boy. (Want to get daily news updates and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Conroe-Montgomery County Patch morning newsletter.)

Last month, the students, who both attend The Woodlands High School, were discussing the issue of NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem over the Snapchat social media app, when the white student allegedly said: "we should have hung all you n****s while we had the chance and trust me it would make the world better."

The two students were exchanging messages on the social media app during off hours, and were off school property at the time of the incident.

The boy has since apologized to the girl and her family, but the family is upset that the district has declined to discipline the white student, and instead has even offered to transfer their daughter to another school if she feels unsafe, according to a Houston Press article.

"We thought the only way to ensure that that situation was handled was that he be removed from that school, because he may put her at risk and also other students of African-American descent at risk,” the girl’s father, R.J. King told the Houston Press.

Meanwhile, the Conroe ISD board of trustees were greeted with a standing room only crowd at their Tuesday night meeting and heard complaints from parents who demanded answers, the Conroe Courier reported.

The King’s spoke during the public comment portion of the board meeting and urged trustees and district administrators to consider the message they were sending to the 4,500 African-American students in Conroe ISD.

“There needs to be clear action taken,” Latoika King said Tuesday. This kid needs to be removed, and this communication needs to go out to the entire district that says 'we're not tolerating this kind of behavior.' Because my daughter is traumatized and walking on eggshells."

Conroe ISD issued the following statement on the matter:
“Upon notification, campus administration immediately began investigating the female student’s report that she had received a racist Snapchat over a weekend. The campus investigated the incident, and it did not meet the criteria of bullying as outlined by law. Because the comment was made on Sunday while the students were at their homes, Conroe ISD Police reviewed the matter and determined they did not have jurisdiction. The family was advised to make a report to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. The District has been in contact with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and has been advised it has been assigned a case number. The District, within the bounds of state and federal law, has done everything it can to address the concerns raised by the female student’s family. No employee of Conroe ISD has condoned racism in any form or acted in any manner that could be characterized as supporting it.”

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