Mother of Seneca Valley student who received racist texts says dozens of people have ‘shared they’re victims of bullying’
JACKSON TWP — The mother of a sixth-grade boy at Ehrman Crest Middle School who received racist text messages from basketball teammates said the instance was just one of many in Seneca Valley School District for her children and other students of color.
Amanda Razzano-Latham, the 12-year-old boy’s mother, said 75 current and former students have since reached out to her alleging cases of bullying in the district, many of them racially charged.
Razzano-Latham, of Cranberry Township, was joined by her husband, Kevion Latham, at a school board meeting Monday, March 4. She was slated to address board members about racial discrimination and bullying during the public comment portion of the meeting, but when prompted, declined to speak.
After the meeting, Razzano-Latham said she felt she would be “wasting (her) breath.” She said she sent multiple emails to the school board and had received one response linking to the district’s policy handbook.
“I just don’t feel like they have any concern for what I actually have to say,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to speak or just be here and just look everyone in the eye who’s not fighting for the 75 students, including my son, who have reached out and shared they’re victims of bullying,” she said.
In response to the texts, the coach of the involved traveling youth community league canceled the rest of the season, which Razzano-Latham said she felt was appropriate.
The league is not affiliated with the school district, but her son’s teammates are Seneca Valley students.
No investigation by the district into the text messages has been undertaken, she said.
Instead, Razzano-Latham said her son was pulled out of class in front of other students by a counselor, taken to a room the counselor unlocked with a key, and was asked to detail “what happened to him.”
She said her son told her the counselor repeatedly questioned him after he informed them a teammate called him “monkey” along with other derogatory names and slurs.
The counselor, Razzano-Latham said, then claimed he called a teammate “monkey” first, which her son repeatedly denied.
In a conversation with his mother, the boy said he “felt uncomfortable,” likening the counselor to “a detective.”
“With what my son went through, not a single investigation has been opened,” she said. “Not one time have they asked me for information. But they pulled my son in to counsel him.”
Razzano-Latham said this is the fifth situation in which her family has addressed discrimination.
She recalled instances beginning in first grade, when her son was called names because of the color of his skin.
“In second grade, he said ‘Mommy, I heard the kids talking at lunch about being Black,’” she said. “He said, ‘It was bad.’ He said, ‘Can you make sure daddy doesn’t take me to school so that they don’t know that we’re Black?’”
In other situations, she said, her children were always offered counseling.
“I don’t want my kids to be the ones that have to receive therapy for being victimized,” she said.
Besides being called other slurs, Razzano-Latham said her son was also threatened to be whipped.
She said the family’s attorney is in contact with the school board, but said it was not the route she initially wanted to take.
“I would have liked to receive a sincere interest in what my son and children of color and discriminated populations are really going through at Seneca Valley,” she said. “I would like the school to say, ‘You know what, we didn’t know this was this bad here, but we’re going to conduct investigations.’”
When asked how her son was feeling, Razzano-Latham said some days are better than others.
“He’s a strong kid,” she said. “He’s quiet. Sometimes when he talks about it, like my mom asked him about a week ago — he hung his head, he closed his eyes. He couldn’t make eye contact.”
Razzano-Latham said some students who were not on the basketball team have since stopped playing with him.
“Now, all of a sudden, it’s just an awkward situation,” she said. “We just don’t understand why Seneca Valley hasn’t come out and made kids feel empowered to be better and to be more of a friend to anybody who’s going through something like that instead of rejecting them further.”
After the meeting, school district communication director Linda Andreassi declined to comment, but referred again to the district’s original statement sent Feb. 16.
“The Seneca Valley School District recently became aware of a group text exchanges, including racial slurs, between sixth grade students in a youth community league not affiliated with the School District,” the statement read. “Although the youth community league does not fall under the jurisdiction of the District or the Seneca Valley Athletics Department, we recognize that these are our students, and we understand that providing an inclusive and respectful environment is important both inside and outside our walls.”
“First and foremost, we denounce any form of racism, bullying or discriminatory conduct in the strongest terms possible and take very seriously any reports of this nature,” the statement continued. “We collaborated with the youth community league and addressed the students and parents in this situation. We invite parents to join us in this effort as it will take all of us to ensure that we are fostering a culture of respect and acceptance within our community.”
