LIVINGSTON COUNTY — A multi-year lawsuit filed against Hartland Consolidated Schools for allegedly creating an “openly racist environment” for Black students is slated for a jury trial in February.
The proceeding is scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 4, according to court records. The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
More: Students must receive parent permission to take part in culture training, surveys at HCS
Tatayana Vanderlaan filed her lawsuit against HCS, Superintendent Chuck Hughes, then-Hartland High School Principal Kate Gregory and then-Assistant Principal Emily Aluia in 2023, alleging she experienced racism as a student at HHS. When she was a senior in March 2021, Vanderlaan posted on social media that she was harassed by her peers because she was Black.
The lawsuit alleges Vanderlaan was “exposed to an openly racist environment that, left unchecked, escalated into direct racial harassment and ultimately culminated in explicit threats of white supremacist violence, all of which was tacitly endorsed by teachers and by school and district leadership.”
A multi-year lawsuit filed against Hartland Consolidated Schools for allegedly creating an “openly racist environment” for Black students is slated for a jury trial in February.
Vanderlaan said, in 2021, after her post went viral, she was escorted off campus due to a threat of being “lynched.”
The lawsuit states Vanderlaan continued to face harassment through the end of her senior year, despite notifying officials multiple times. She said the harassment caused her to miss several weeks of school, which resulted in lower grades and negatively impacted her plans to attend college to be a nurse or physician.
In response to the complaints, the U.S. Department of Justice began monitoring Hartland Schools. Last September, the HCS Board of Education voted in a split decision to extend that monitoring agreement. The DOJ said HCS has addressed discrimination, bullying and harassment on an administrative level, but concerns remain for the potential of student-on-student harassment.
As part of the agreement, HCS will continue to monitor and track student behaviors. School leadership will investigate and determine if discrimination, bullying, harassment or hazing has occurred. The district will use a third party — Great Lakes Equity Center — to provide an “outside view” for staffers. GLEC will consult with the district and provide services and resources to administration members. Students, parents and staff can take cultural surveys.
In December, trustees approved a policy requiring parents to sign a form allowing their children to opt-in for training or surveys made available as part of the monitoring agreement.
The district, in a filing requesting the case’s dismissal on Dec. 19, argues many of the incidents alleged by Vanderlaan were undocumented or lack evidence they were reported. Numerous times, officials claim they don’t remember speaking to Vanderlaan at all.
The school confirms two students were given 10-day suspensions and referred for mandatory expulsion. The district argues it was “limited” in its ability to discipline some of Vanderlaan’s peers because they were special education students.
Four students, in total, faced charges from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office. Three teenagers were charged with stalking under the harassment theory, while another was charged with assault and battery. Three were allowed to plead under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, keeping their convictions under seal if they successfully complete probation. The fourth student was charged as a juvenile and not named.
Of note, jury trials are often postponed and rescheduled. The Daily will provide an update if the case is pushed back.
A status conference in the case against Pinckney Community Schools is scheduled for April 10, according to court records.
Pinckney Community Schools
A status conference in the case against Pinckney Community Schools is scheduled for April 10, according to court records. That lawsuit is also filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The suit was filed in July 2024 on behalf of several students alleging racial harassment and discrimination at PCS. The plaintiffs are all minors — four boys and one girl — who have attended Navigator Upper Elementary or Pathfinder School. The students claim “racism has permeated Pinckney Community Schools for years.”
According to the lawsuit, Black students in Pinckney “have been called ‘cotton picker,’ ‘monkey,’ the ‘N-word,’ physically assaulted, racially profiled and threatened to be killed because of their skin color.” The complaint alleges PCS “turned a blind eye and failed to meaningfully address the racism once and for all.”
Black students at PCS “have suffered emotional trauma and substantial disruption to their education,” the lawsuit says. It also alleges several students have left PCS “out of fear for their physical, personal and educational well-being.”
In addition to PCS, Superintendent Rick Todd, Pathfinder School Principal Lori Sandula and former Navigator School Principal Janet McDole are listed as defendants.
PCS officials denied their actions created “a hostile educational environment,” according to their response to the lawsuit. The defendants argue they “at all times acted in good faith” and “deny any recklessness or callous neglect.” The defendants have requested the court dismiss the lawsuit, deny all relief sought by the plaintiffs and award costs and attorney fees incurred.
— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on X @SalsaEvan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Racial harassment suit against Hartland Schools heads to trial Feb. 4