Nonprofit urges anti-racism training at Ohio school district

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — Members of a community nonprofit organization urged school officials in a suburban Cincinnati school district to implement anti-racism training for students and start a larger conversation about racism within the community.

About a dozen members of Martin Luther King Community Coalition of Lebanon offered to help implement training for students, faculty and staff at the Lebanon City Schools board meeting, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

A Lebanon mother of biracial children said school administrators ignored complaints of racial harassment and bullying of her children in a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on April 13. Heather Allen cited nine incidents in her federal complaint in the past school year about racial slurs and threats directed at her children in both high and junior high schools.

The complaint was filed after the posting of an Instagram photo containing a racist caption and threat.

Current programs in place at district schools include role playing with puppets for children in younger grades, school administrators said, while older students attend assemblies, workshops and receive lesson plans focused on social justice issues.