Claims of racial bullying made at two Katy ISD high schools

KATY, TX (KTRK) -- There are disturbing allegations out of two Katy ISD high schools. Students at both Katy High School and Cinco Ranch High School claim they're victims of racial bullying.

"On January 14, two white students in my daughter's first period classroom called my daughter a n****r, a f*****g n*****r, come fight me n****r, you look like a good f*****g slave girl," said Tahir Charles.

His daughter is a junior at Katy High School.

At Cinco Ranch High, Honesti White says she's been bullied with racial slurs since November. She says they even threatened her life through text messages and social media.

"It just kept going. They didn't stop bothering me until I was forced to defend myself," White explained.

She was expelled and charged with assaulting one of the girls she claims has been bullying her. Monday, White and her mom, accompanied by Quannell X, said they met with the principal.

"If they had taken this matter seriously long ago, these girls wouldn't have continued to taunt her," said her mother Tatiana Rountree. "If they would have taken this matter seriously long ago, I would not be in this predicament I'm in right now fighting for my daughter to be able to attend school."

Federal privacy law limits what Katy ISD can say, but a spokesperson sent a statement saying:

"We're at a great disadvantage as a school district, as we cannot say all that we know due to FERPA law. If this story could be told in its entirety, the public sentiment would likely not be with the narrative currently being formulated and promoted by the affected parties.

However, we would like to clarify information that has been falsely reported by the parent's representative - Quannell X. His statements are inaccurate. Prior to today, Tatiana Rountree had not brought forth any allegations of racial slurs to the attention of administrators, nor were there three other students involved attacking the student in question on campus on February 19. According to eyewitnesses, the incident involved only one other student, and that individual was identified as the victim by all eyewitnesses.

Katy ISD takes reports of alleged bullying very seriously as the safety and security of our students is the District's top priority. Any student who engages in threatening written or verbal expression, or physical conduct that occurs on school property or at a school sponsored event will be appropriately disciplined as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct. In this case, all students who were found to have engaged in inappropriate behavior, sustained consequences for their participation."

On the Katy High School incident, the district says:

"The District takes reports of alleged bullying very seriously as the safety and security of our students is our top priority. Any student who engages in threatening written, verbal or physical conduct, this includes the use of racial slurs, on school property or at a school sponsored event will be appropriately disciplined as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.

Due to FERPA law, we are limited on the details we can share about this incident. However, we can assure parents that the two students who allegedly used racial slurs against another student at Katy High School have been appropriately disciplined.

As with other school districts across the region, consequences for bullying range from behavior conferences with verbal reprimands to out-of-school suspensions, depending on the severity of the activity and the outcomes of an investigation."

Charles disputes that.

"These kids are still walking in that classroom trying to intimidate my daughter. At what point do I need to say something, when they beat her? When they shoot her?" she asked.

Charles says the policies and procedures that allow students accused of bullying to have any sort of contact or be in the same space with their alleged victims need to be changed.

Eyewitness News reached out to the president of the Board of Trustees. He has yet to return our call to discuss these allegations or the call for policy change.