A Utah school has reached a $2 million settlement with the family of a 10-year-old who committed suicide two years ago after being severely bullied.
The Davis School District, which operates Foxboro Elementary School, agreed to pay Izzy Tichenor’s relatives the lump sum after it was approved by the Utah legislature.
The number was well below the $14 million the family was seeking in a lawsuit last year alleging the child was bullied, abused, harassed and excluded from activities because he was “female, learning disabled, poor , homeless and black”.
Speaking about the payment at an emotional press conference, her mother Brittany Tichenor-Cox said it sent an “important message” but was still mourning her.
“It will be a long time coming.” Tichenor-Cox said. “Today’s agreement sends an important message.”
A Utah school has reached a $2 million settlement with the family of a 10-year-old who committed suicide two years ago after being severely bullied
Speaking about the payment at an emotional press conference, her mother Brittany Tichenor-Cox said it sent an “important message” but was still mourning her
Izzy was a student in Utah’s Davis School District, which has a “serious and widespread racial harassment issue,” according to the Justice Department. Pictured: Foxboro Elementary School
She said she continues to mourn the loss of her daughter and while no amount of money can change that, she stressed the importance of the settlement.
“I still have trouble grieving for her.” “Just because you win some money doesn’t mean the kid isn’t here,” she added.
Tichenor-Cox said she will start a non-profit organization, the Izzy’s Village Foundation, to help other suffering children.
Family attorney Tyler Ayres said while he and the family hoped for more, it was a good step forward.
“We were hoping for a number that might have conveyed a bigger message, but we believe that was the right message at the moment.”
“We can never forget the injustice Izzy suffered,” he said.
“Hopefully the next African American kid at Foxboro Elementary School will find solace in knowing they are not alone and that this community is celebrating and fighting for them,” he added.
Brittany (left) said she contacted the school and the district on several occasions but always felt ignored
Izzy’s mother, Brittany, says Izzy once took air fresheners to school because her teacher told the students they smelled bad, which led to other students bullying her in the playground
Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor, 10, was the victim of “racist” comments and remarks about her disability before committing suicide in November last year, her mother says
A statue of Izzy will also be placed in the Foxboro Library.
They expressed that they are “comfortable with what the Davis School District is saying,” but that they are “watching them and we will continue to watch them for years to come.”
Black Lives Matter Utah chair Rae Duckworth offered a similar message, saying, “We will stand up for Izzy and smile for Izzy.”
The district and family released a joint statement Tuesday on the settlement.
In the statement, the county said the loss of Izzy “will always have an impact on our community and school.”
Moving on, the statement continued, “The Davis School District is committed to making schools a safe and welcoming environment for all.”
“Any form of racism, bigotry, discrimination or harassment in our schools is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
The 10-year-old girl took her own life in November 2021 after her mother said she was bullied because of her autism and the color of her skin in a school district that has a “serious and widespread problem of racial harassment,” according to the Justice Department
“The district encourages anyone who observes a student or staff member being harassed or bullied to report it immediately.”
“Reports of bullying are thoroughly documented, dealt with promptly and appropriate action taken.”
“The district is continually evaluating and expanding its processes and efforts to better support each student who attends its schools, including implementing trauma-informed counseling and other resources for its students.”
“The district continues to provide the necessary training to ensure compliance with all applicable policies and recommendations and strives to create environments that foster open dialogue and discussion that encourage mutual learning, respect and empathy without undue pressure on individuals to exercise students.”
“The district is committed to continuing to implement changes that positively impact students, staff and the community.”
The 10-year-old took her own life in November 2021 after her mother said she was taunted because of her autism and the color of her skin in a school district that has a “serious and widespread problem of racial harassment,” according to the Justice Department.
Before her death, Izzy told her mother that she believed her teacher didn’t like her and even took an air freshener to school after she was mocked for her smell.
Tichenor-Cox says she contacted the teacher and the school district multiple times about Izzy’s claims, but no action was ever taken.
An April 2022 report found that Davis School District in Farmington failed to properly handle Tichenor’s mother’s grievances in the months leading up to her death.
The independent investigation commissioned by the principal found that the distraught teenager, who was awaiting a possible diagnosis of autism, sprayed her clothes with Febreze after being told by other students and even a teacher that she smelled bad.
The special education teacher in question said she asked Izzy if she had showered while noticing how she smelled.
The report also revealed that staff at Foxboro Elementary School, which Izzy attended, were not even aware of the county’s formal definition of bullying.
It added that Foxboro fosters an atmosphere “where bullying … may be underreported, underinvestigated, and unaddressed,” according to CNN.
Brittany Tichenor-Cox, left, at the vigil to commemorate her 10-year-old daughter in 2021
Just weeks before Izzy’s death, the Davis School District was hit by a Justice Department investigation that found officials had for years ignored allegations of racial harassment by black and Asian students and their families.
The subsequent investigation into Izzy’s death was unable to determine whether the bullying she suffered was racist – although that hasn’t been ruled out.
It states: “Issues related to race, disability and poverty sometimes overlap, and when that is the case, already difficult situations can become even more complicated.”
“It can be very difficult to separate one from the other.”
“When a college student told Izzy she needed to wash her hair, that comment could have been made out of racial hatred, an innocuous observation, or a covert insult to poverty.”
However, the investigation concluded that the school did not do enough to protect the child and to investigate her mother’s allegations of bullying in a timely manner.
The DOJ report, released in October 2020, found that black students were disciplined more severely than white students and were “routinely” referred to by the N-word. White students also labeled Asian students “yellow” and “squinted” and urged them “to return to China,” the report said.
Izzy’s older sister had complained of racial bullying by students prior to her sister’s death, including an incident in which she had been slurred with the N-word.
The agency’s discovery came in a report and settlement agreement released in October — a month before Izzy committed suicide. The school district investigation began in July 2019.
has reached out to Tyler Ayres – the Tichenor family attorney – and the Davis School District for comment.
Ayres has previously said that Izzy’s family reported the bullying to teachers and school officials but felt ignored.
In response, the Davis School District said in a statement that it would review the report’s findings and offer a formal apology to Izzy’s family.
Brittany Tichenor-Cox (right) says her Izzy’s teachers and classmates picked on her daughter on a daily basis
“We take it seriously. “We pledge to continue our ongoing and comprehensive efforts to create a welcoming environment for all students in the Davis School District,” the statement said.
Brittany Tichenor-Cox has said in the past that Izzy has expressed reservations about her time at Foxboro Elementary School in North Salt Lake since the beginning of the school year.
She told her mother that she believed her teacher didn’t like her.
“She doesn’t say ‘hello’ to me.” “She says ‘hello’ to all the other kids,” Tichenor-Cox recalled as Izzy said.
Less than two months before Izzy’s death, the Justice Department released a report after reviewing more than 200 allegations of racial harassment and other discrimination and conducting five visits to the district, during which it spoke with staff and students.
The report states: “Black students reported strikingly similar experiences across the district: white and other non-black students routinely called black students the N-word and other racial slurs, called them monkeys or monkeys, and said their skin was dirty or this is what poop looks like.
“People taunted black students by making monkey noises, touching and pulling their hair without permission, repeatedly referring to slavery and lynching, and telling black students ‘go pick cotton,’ and ‘you are my slave.'”
“Harassment related to slavery increased as schools taught the subject, which some black students felt was not being taught in a respectful or considerate manner.”
“White and other non-Black students demanded that Black students give them an ‘N-word passport,’ which allegedly gave them permission to use the N-word with impunity, including to and around Black students.”
Darlene McDonald, a local activist whose two black sons attended school in the county, said her older son “faces being the butt of black jokes,” according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Tomoya Averett, 22, said she was the victim of “relentless” harassment.
She says white students called her the N-word and told her, “God hates black people; That’s why her skin is dark” when she was 16.