ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – Federal investigators have discovered that a school counselor at Tappan Middle School called a Muslim student a ‘terrorist’ in November 2023.
It happened when the counselor in her office told a Palestinian student that she “didn’t negotiate with terrorists” after he asked to leave to drink some water.
Amy V. Doukoure, the attorney representing the family, told CBS News Detroit that the student’s family filed a complaint with the school and board of education, but was told it was an employment issue and the case was closed.
“They were devastated, quite frankly,” said Doukoure, a staff attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan Chapter. “The student no longer felt comfortable going to school. And as things progressed throughout the school year, there were instances where the child felt like he was being retaliated against or singled out because they knew he had made this complaint.”
That complaint was filed by CAIR-MI in December with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
After an investigation, the OCR said the district did not comply with Title VI rules for handling student civil rights complaints.
“It’s substantial,” Doukoure said. “They need to do now what they should have done from the beginning, which is make sure the child has resources at school through counseling.”
As part of a resolution agreement, the OCR also directed AAPS to conduct a climate assessment to identify racially hostile environments in its schools.
AAPS released this statement, which reads in part:
“We are against all forms of racism, hatred, discrimination and prejudice. When harm is done in our school community, we always take these matters seriously. We don’t ignore them. We don’t deny them. And we do not fail to maintain this. people responsible.
“When incidents occur, and they do because our schools are a microcosm of the world and community around us, there are some details we cannot comment on.”
“I understand that the family is satisfied with the outcome,” Doukoure added. “This is pretty much what they wanted from the beginning. They wanted an acknowledgment that something wasn’t quite right, that something wasn’t being handled quite right, and they wanted to make sure their student felt safe in the school district.”
CBS News Detroit contacted AAPS to inquire if that same school counselor still works at Tappan Middle School. An official said they do not comment on the employment status of individuals within the district.
Meredith Bruckner
