Black teen sues Lakewood charter school over racist bathroom graffiti and bullying

Jaylen Davis, now 18, alleges that white peers at Addenbrooke Classical Academy repeatedly harassed him with slurs, unwanted touching, racist jokes and demeaning items such as a monkey-shaped stress ball. After his mother alerted Principal John Byrne in late January that Davis was becoming a bullying target, Davis and his mother filed further complaints through April, asserting that former executive Ric Netzer encouraged him to physically retaliate.

The school, according to the filing, failed to interview witnesses, discipline the offenders or provide protection. The harassment escalated in May when a wall in the boys’ bathroom was spray-painted with threats of rape, a "slave auction" suggestion and the N-word, all bearing Davis’s name. Although the school later painted over the graffiti and warned the students involved, it did not disclose the incident to Davis or his mother, and claimed it could not identify the culprits. Davis ultimately left the school for an online program, citing the hostile environment and its impact on his mental health.