School attended by autistic 10-year-old who took her own life allowed bullying to go unchecked, report finds

An internal report found the school allowed for an atmosphere in which ‘bullying ... could go underreported, uninvestigated, and unaddressed’

After a 10-year-old girl took her own life in November, an internal investigation into her school found that it was an environment in which "bullying ... could go underreported, uninvestigated, and unaddressed”.

Foxboro Elementary School in Farmington, Utah, became the focus of scrutiny after the death by suicide of 10-year-old Isabella Tichenor. Her mother claimed the girl, who was both Black and autistic, had been bullied for her race and autism just before her death. Those claims prompted outrage from the surrounding community, and an internal investigation was launched by the school district.

According to CNN, the results of that review found that Isabella had been told by both classmates and teachers that she smelled and needed to bathe. They found "no direct evidence" that the girl had been bullied specifically due to her race or her autism.

However, the team also included the caveat that “issues relating to race, disability, and poverty sometimes intersect and when they do, can further complicate already challenging situations. It can be very difficult to extricate one from the others.”

The report claimed that "when a student told Izzy she needed to wash her hair, this comment could have been borne out of racial animus, could have been an innocuous observation, or could have been a cloaked insult about poverty."

More damning for the school was the review's conclusion that it did not adequately protect Isabella from bullying. It claims the school dismissed the claims and did not investigate her mother's allegations in a timely manner.

The report also found that Foxboro school staff did not have "actual knowledge" of the district's definition of "bullying”, which helped foster an atmosphere in the school in which "bullying ... could go underreported, univestigated, and unaddressed."

The school reportedly received complaints about bullying but only created an official report months after the initial allegations – and after Isabella's death.

Isabella's mother claimed the same student had been harassing her daughter and even told her at one point he had a gun. Staff at the school reviewed surveillance video and searched the student's backpack three days after the allegations, but said they could not support the allegations.

A week after that incident, Isabella's mother filed another complaint, saying "the same student called Izzy's sister the 'N-word' and touched her." The school also could not confirm that incident after reviewing surveillance video and speaking with two "potential witnesses."

Brittany Tichenor-Cox, holds a photo of her daughter, Isabella "Izzy" Tichenor, during an interview Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, in Draper, Utah. Tichenor-Cox said her 10-year-old daughter died by suicide after she was harassed for being Black and autistic at school. She is speaking out about the school not doing enough to stop the bullying. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Despite their findings, school officials ruled that the incident seemed "more likely than not" to have happened and suspended the student. The school made the families of both students sign a contract promising that the two would avoid each other.

Isabella died just weeks after the Justice Department publicly outlined a pattern within the school district in which Black and Asian American students had been bullied for years. It claimed that officials ignored the complaints from parents and students. The agency began investigating the school in the summer of 2019, and later released its report and a settlement agreement with the district.

The Davis School District issued a statement saying it was "taking [the allegations] seriously”.

“We vow to continue our ongoing and extensive efforts to foster a welcoming environment for all students in the Davis School District,” it said.

The review team that compiled the report is recommending that the school district train its staff to identify bullying and to provide diversity and equity training sessions.

The report also recommends that Foxboro Elementary establish clear protocols and record-keeping for bullying complaints.