Mock slave auctions at a private school in Bronxville, New York, in which white students were urged by a fifth grade teacher to bid on black classmates, "had a profoundly negative effect" on the children, a state investigation found.
The New York State Attorney General's Office on Wednesday announced its findings in the probe into the incidents in March at The Chapel School, and said the school has agreed to diversify its staff and student body. The school enrolls students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, 43 percent of whom are minorities, according to the school.
As part of the agreement, the school must hire a chief diversity officer approved by state Attorney General Letitia James.
“Every young person — regardless of race — deserves the chance to attend school free of harassment, bias and discrimination,” James said in a statement. “Lessons designed to separate children on the basis of race have no place in New York classrooms, or in classrooms throughout this country. I thank The Chapel School for agreeing to take measures that directly address the issues of race, diversity and inclusion at the school."
In March, the mother of a student at the school in Westchester County, about 15 miles north of Manhattan, said a white teacher allowed white students to bid on and "buy" black students, who were to pretend to be slaves.
