Middlesex School District Pays 2 Students $155K To Settle Racism Suit

MIDDLESEX BOROUGH, NJ — The Middlesex borough school district agreed to pay two African-American female students a combined $155,000 after they filed this racism lawsuit against the district.

The students are both in the ninth-grade at Middlesex High School; the lawsuit was filed by themselves and their parents. The teenage girls, who are minors, were only identified in the suit as D.I. and K.M.

You can read their lawsuit here; they filed it in September 2022 against the Middlesex borough Board of Education.

In April of this year, the Middlesex school district agreed to settle. The settlement terms are at the end of that lawsuit (page 63 of 65): The Middlesex borough school district agreed to pay the two girls $155,000: $85,000 to D.I. and $70,000 to K.M.

Additionally, their lawyers (Norman Jimerson of The Jimerson Practice and Alexander D’Jamoos, of Flanagan, Barone & O’Brien) received a combined $45,000. In total, the district settled for $200,000 without admitting wrongdoing.

An email to current Middlesex schools superintendent Roberta Freeman requesting more info. on the settlement was not returned.

In their lawsuit, the teenage girls listed what they said were numerous incidents of racism during their years attending Von E. Mauger Middle School and Middlesex High School:

They say they overheard racial slurs in the classrooms and hallways directed toward other African-American students.

"During the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years Plaintiff D.I. experienced a number of specific instances when she was subject to racial epithets and harassment by various Caucasian schoolmates, including social media posts where white students called her a 'n—.'"

Other examples they listed included a 2006-2007 football game between Highland Park and Middlesex High School where then-Middlesex superintendent Fred Williams, who is African-American, said he overheard Middlesex High School students call his own son “n—” and other racial slurs while playing on the football field.

They also referenced an Oct. 28, 2021 incident when a group of eight students, all seniors, were not allowed to wear gorilla and banana costumes to school for Halloween, after superintendent Williams said the costumes were racist, something the students vocally protested at a school board meeting at the time.

Williams also suspended the eight students.

The lawsuit called the gorilla and bananas costume idea "disgusting." The lawsuit then referenced a Nov. 8, 2021 Middlesex borough board meeting "where a group of influential community members using the online 'Friends of the Middlesex Taxpayers' called for the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Frederick D. Williams for suspending the eight white students involved the 'Gorilla and Banana' Halloween costume incident."

Read another part of the lawsuit:

"During her years as a student at Von E. Mauger Middle School and Middlesex High School, from September 2019 to the present, K.M. has been called 'n—,' 'm—' told that her skin was 'dirty' and even harassed about her hairstyle, natural hair and length and single-parent household. K.M. told teachers or other staff when she experienced harassment initially, especially at Middlesex High School, but when the staff members did not respond, she became discouraged and doubted that they would ever intervene. The harassment was so pervasive and happened so often in front of adults, K.M. concluded that school administrators, teaching staff, and other employees condoned the behavior and believed reporting it further would be futile."

The Middlesex borough school district is a small district of only about 2,079 students total. Read the lawsuit and settlement from the district here: https://drive.google.com/file/...

This story was first reported by John Paff at Transparency NJ.