The parents of two students who reportedly faced racial discrimination while attending Ecker Hill Middle School and Treasure Mountain Junior High School are suing the Park City School District and former Superintendent Jill Gildea for allegedly failing to protect their children from bullying and harassment.
The lawsuit, filed in Third District Court last week, said the couple’s daughter experienced at least four “instances of harassment based on her race” while attending Ecker Hill Middle School from 2022 to 2024. Her older brother, who attended Ecker Hill and Treasure Mountain Junior High School, experienced at least 17 instances of harassment from 2020 to 2024, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint claimed the parents reported each incident to the school district, including the use of racial slurs and sexual comments. It also referred to a 2024 investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which reported “77 documented incidents of students engaging in racially offensive conduct.”
The children named in last week’s filing were involved in the federal investigation, with the Office of Civil Rights specifically studying the family’s reports as part of its analysis, according to the lawsuit.
“(The Office of Civil Rights) found the accumulation of confirmed incidents of race-based harassment, antisemitic harassment and sexual harassment … created a hostile environment based on race, national origin and sex for specific students that limited their access to education,” the complaint said.
The federal report also declared the school district had not taken “effective steps to eliminate a hostile environment” because it failed to investigate all alleged incidents.
The family’s children suffered from anxiety and depression and were afraid of attending classes, according to the lawsuit. One child had to attend an inpatient treatment program to cope with the stress, and both require mental health support for ongoing anxiety.
The complaint said the children “have been damaged” because of the district’s “failures under the leadership of Jill Gildea.” The document alleged the district did not maintain records of student-to-student harassment, as federal law requires, and that employees were not trained on how to maintain or investigate reports of abuse or bullying.
“The behaviors outlined above constitute clear violations of both Title VI and Title IX, which require recipients of federal funds to maintain an environment free of discrimination, harassment and retaliatory practices,” the lawsuit said. “Additionally, Park City School District and Jill Gildea failed to take timely and appropriate corrective measures after these incidents were reported, which exacerbated the harm experienced.”
The document claimed Park City School District administrators and employees violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against the children “on the basis of race.” It said school officials had documentation and reports of “ongoing offensive racial misconduct,” but employees “exhibited deliberate indifference” to the family’s complaints.
“(Park City School District) and Superintendent Jill Gildea had the authority and ability to investigate and take meaningful corrective action to end or prevent future racial profiling and misconduct … but they failed to do so,” the lawsuit said. “PCSD, by its acts and omissions, created a racially hostile educational climate where offensive racial misconduct was tolerated and minimized.”
The district did not offer psychological resources, counseling or academic assistance to the children despite the family’s repeated reports of discrimination, the document said.
“PCSD has maintained policies … and training which allows, tolerates or tacitly condones racial discrimination against students, leading to the violation of protected constitutional rights,” the lawsuit continued.
The family is entitled to compensation because of the “emotional distress, fear, anxiety and trauma; lost future earnings and earning capacity; and expenses for past and future medical and psychological care,” the document claimed.
The complaint requested Third District Judge Patricia Kuendig award the family at least $300,000 in compensatory damages, as well as attorney fees and other costs to be determined at trial.
The school district declined to comment on the case, citing a policy prohibiting officials from remarking on ongoing litigation.