Notice of claim filed against Long Island school districts alleging racism
NASSAU COUNTY, New York (WABC) -- The Roosevelt School District on Long Island filed a notice of claim on Thursday on behalf of its boys' basketball team.
The official notice of claim was filed against the Lynbrook School District, Wantagh School District and the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association, claiming they all failed to intervene while unruly crowds from both schools hurled hateful and racist comments at the young athletes.
Leaders are demanding a formal apology, staff diversity training, and an undisclosed amount of money for attorney fees - following what they say has been a history of racial intimidation.
The news comes after a photo captured from the February 17th boys basketball game between Roosevelt and Wantagh High School sparked attention.
"It shows what appears to be a large group of young white men wearing white shirts," described Frederick Brewington, attorney for the district. "All have their backs on opponents in a place where sportsmanship is supposed to rule."
The photo was taken before Roosevelt lost the game.
A video then shows the group running to the floor after the game.
"At the end of the game, they bum rush the entire floor, make it completely unsafe. It's like a mob," Brewington continued. "The students from Roosevelt had to be ushered into a locker room because they feared for their own safety."
The Roosevelt Union Free School District filed a notice of claim against the Wantagh School District and the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association. The Lynbrook School District is named in the document for another incident at a game that took place on February 15th.
At both games, students were allegedly called racial slurs.
Roosevelt leaders allege Wantagh and Lynbrook leaders failed to intervene and discipline the students during the games, violating section 8 code of conduct.
Roosevelt is seeking a formal written apology and demands training for all staff named in the notice of claim.
For the superintendent Deborah L. Wortham, this is personal as she says there's a history of racial intimidation.
"What's significant about this one is that the multiple two districts came together to make our students feel uncomfortable," said Wortham.
The Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association says it has a process to handle complaints like this, but they prefer the districts to remediate any issues they have.
Lynbrook and Wantagh school districts declined to comment.
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