Students and parents are speaking out against racist attacks at a north suburban high school. 

Students at Niles West High School in Skokie have led two walkouts in the last two weeks to protest what they call a culture of racism on campus. The walkouts come after a group of students were heard yelling racial slurs and making monkey sounds toward a group of Black students.  The incident happened earlier this month, but students, parents and district leaders say it’s not the first time racial slurs including the n-word have been used toward students and staff.

“My fellow classmates and local leaders organized this protest to bring awareness of what’s happening at Niles West and what’s kept behind closed doors,” said Londyn Lavallias, a senior at Niles West High School and president of the Black Student Union.

Three days after students were racially harassed, Principal Karen Ritter sent an email to the Niles West community, which read in part, “During the walkout, students in the hallway heard the n-word directed toward them. This is not the first time it has happened. In fact, students and adults hear the n-word regularly in school, along with other racial slurs and derogatory comments about religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other identity groups at school and on social media … this is disgusting behavior, and it must stop from everyone in our school community.”

It’s unclear whether or not any of the students who used racial slurs were punished as student disciplinary records are confidential. Dillin Randolph, an English teacher at Niles West High School, says school leaders should be more transparent about how they’re disciplining students who use racist language and hate speech.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what happened to the consequences with those students, there’s just no transparency to what happened, we need to know if the students received the consequences. Students need to know if there’s a consequence for them,” said Randolph.

Randolph says the district hasn’t provided any guidance or protocols on how to handle hate speech should teachers hear it in schools.

“I know what I do in my own classroom to handle hate speech, but just from my own knowledge,” said Randolph. “I have not received anything in order to deal with it or to basically face it head on as a teacher. If you hear it in the moment, you see it in the moment, you have to address it in the moment because a lot of times you let it go, let it slide or you let it go away, the victim of that hate speech doesn’t feel like someone who’s protected, doesn't feel like someone looks out for them or doesn’t feel that someone is even aware of it.” 

Jasmine Sebaggala is co-founder of the Skokie Schools Equity Collaborative, which advocates for equity and anti-racism practices in Skokie schools.  The group helped lead a protest last year demanding several changes, including the removal of school resource officers, policy changes to address racism and an end to the over-disciplining of Black students.  

Data presented by the district in 2021 showed Black students were being disproportionately disciplined. At a board meeting, Ritter said it was because they were being singled out because of implicit bias, not because they were doing more things wrong.

“Our kids, when they complain about things happening to them, I’ve heard that nothing happens to the kid that caused harm to our Black Children,” said Sebaggala, who is the mother of a Niles West sophomore. “You know, a group of parents, I was one of them, we met regularly with the superintendent and his cabinet and some of the things that we talked about like a response to hate protocol are still not in place and here we are a year after our first protest that I was a part of to discuss the issues and the concerns about how are Black kids are being treated.”

Sebaggala said Black staff have also left the school due to racism from parents. WTTW News reached out to District 219 Board of Education members for comment. No one returned our request except for board member Jill Manrique.

“The board is supposed to act like the school board, the highest level of leadership in the district. We’re supposed to set the tone, you know, we’re supposed to be the ones who are acting on behalf of the community, and when we don't make decisions, like when we don't stand firm against something, then we’re just passively for it,” said Manrique.

The Board of Education has an Equity Committee made up of two out of seven members. It was originally a committee of the whole, which meant a committee for all members, but was recently downsized. 

Niles West High School also has a chief equity officer and equity team, which has implemented several programs including training for teachers and a microaggression public awareness and education campaign. Last year, banners reading “Hate Has No Home Here” went up on school buildings. District leaders say they wanted to send the message that all students are to feel emotionally safe and welcome in schools, but that’s not the case for some students and staff.

“We talk the talk, we don’t always walk the walk. I would say that I trust that the administration wants to fight anti-Black racism in the school. I just got to see it,” said Randolph.

Members of the administration, including Ritter and District 219’s superintendent, declined a request for an interview. 

The district did send us a statement stating, “We are saddened and furious that our students live in a world where racial incidents occur, and our schools are not immune. We support our students’ rights to Free Speech through peaceful protest.  As a district, we stand with our students and staff against racism.”

Sebaggala says neither she nor her daughter have heard from the administration about the walkouts. Her daughter also submitted a comment to the school board with no response.

“Their silence is violence. Their silence is a message to the folks at this school in this community that teach their kids to be hateful and racist, that it’s a goal, that you can go and you can cause harm to Black kids, and we won't say a word,” said Sebaggala. “They need to step up and do what they're supposed to do by law.”