OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The racist attack on Bre'yanna Brown, a Black sophomore at Shawnee Mission East, prompted students to organize several rallies on Thursday to get the school district's attention.
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Standing outside of Shawnee Mission School District headquarters Thursday night, students said this incident was their breaking point.
"Even my first year, I was walking the hallways and the teachers would be out and you would hear someone say free the n*** and teachers would stand there and do nothing," Bre'yanna Brown said.
Two weeks after Bre’yanna was attacked, she showed up to tonight's rally still processing that this time it was her this time. She’s no longer suspended, but she said she can’t walk those same hallways.
"I feel afraid to go back," Bre'Yanna said.
Bre'yanna was side by side with her classmates and friends asking the district to have their backs.
"The fact that it happened at school where you’re supposed to feel safe; Home and school are the two places you’re always supposed to feel safe," Shawnee Mission East student Kevin Gomez said.
Bre’yanna’s story triggers Gomez' own experiences at school.
"I’ve always felt that target on my back because of who I am and my skin color," Gomez said.
As a father, Shaun Brown, said it’s been hard on him because he wishes he was able to protect Bre'yanna.
"It breaks my heart. You got to imagine, I go days trying to hold back tears and sometimes it doesn’t work," he said. "As a father, I'm known to hold stuff in and be the strong one."
As a collective, those protesting believe the school district has some work to do.
"I think their response is the same response they’ve been giving for years and it’s filled with empty promises," Shawnee Mission East student said.
"There’s only one Bre’yanna, but multiple minority kids at that school who knows how many times it has happened," Shaun Brown said.
The crowd wants the district to address their demands, including:
- A formal apology from the school district
- The student responsible for the attack to be expelled
- The district to revise their zero-tolerance policy so students of color have a right to defend themselves in these situations
- District staff to take cultural competence exams
The school district has reasons for suspension or expulsion listed in their student handbook online, that includes:
- Conduct which substantially disrupts, impedes, or interferes with school operation
- Conduct which endangers the safety or substantially impinges on or invades the rights of others
The district said it cannot comment on punishment of any "specific details related to the incident." Their statement:
"The District is saddened by the incident," the statement read. "While we cannot share specific information about the incident or the District’s response, we do want to reassure the community that we take proactive measures to create a safe educational environment where every student feels a sense of belonging. This includes extensive work to support diversity, equity, and inclusion [smsd.org]. Unfortunately, children make big and small mistakes every day. We will continue to respond to those mistakes in an equitable and consistent manner, and our efforts to educate our students about how to treat each other with dignity and respect will be ongoing."
