Lakeridge student contends racism in lawsuit against senator, Lake Oswego district

Posted January 21

Staff Editor

An unnamed student in the Lake Oswego school district has sued her district and former LOSD board member Rob Wagner, now a state senator, for failing to take action on multiple accounts of discrimination.

The African American student claims she encountered multiple instances of racism while she attended Lakeridge High School. The student allegedly received insults about her hair, encountered racial slurs, was cyberbullied, and suffered harassment when she played on her school’s basketball team. According to her family, they attempted to reach out to the school but the problem was not taken seriously by administrators.

“Lake Oswego schools are hotbeds of racism,” the student’s lawyer Kim Sordyl said in a statement. “White decision-makers engage in performative allyship while covering up a deeply racist culture.”

In a press release issued by Underdog Law Office and Sordyl Law, the Lakeridge African American student experienced harassment and racial discrimination nearly everyday on campus, and even by her basketball teammates. Photo courtesy the Portland Tribune.

“Lake Oswego schools are hotbeds of racism. White decision-makers engage in performative allyship while covering up a deeply racist culture.”

-Underdog Law Office and Sordyl Law

According to Sordyl, the student applied in April to graduate a year early to escape her continued treatment at school, affecting her ability to learn. The student’s principal, Desiree Fisher recommended the student be allowed to graduate school early as well.

The student is still enrolled in the district. But in May, Wagner, the then-board chair, approved her request to graduate early by taking extra distance learning classes. Although he approved the student’s request, Wagner made no further investigation into the complaints themselves.

According to Sordyl, several school officials allegedly called the bullied student into the office without notifying her parents and told her not to talk about the racial discrimination she faced, warning that there would be consequences if she did.

According to The Oregonian, Lake Oswego schools have had several documented instances of racism against students of color, including this year during distance learning.

In a written statement to The Oregonian, Wagner commented that he “...wasn’t familiar with the context behind the complaint, [and] hoped the student was getting the support and care she deserves.”

Although Wagner stepped down from the school board in June due to his responsibilities as a senator, the student still wishes to hold the senator accountable.