Second family pursuing state civil rights complaint against Cros-Lex schools

A second Sanilac County family is pursuing a state civil rights complaint against Croswell-Lexington Community Schools after pulling their student from the district this spring.

In an updated complaint dated June 6, Janine Littleton alleges her daughter, Lizzy, was subjected to a “hostile environment” because of her sexual orientation and in retaliation for raising concerns about her treatment.

Lizzy, who chose to be identified in an interview with the Times Herald, said in a recent interview that she came out as a lesbian during her freshman year and soon began encountering bullying from her classmates — something she didn’t initially speak up about until this past academic year as a sophomore.

“It’s always, ‘I’m so sorry this is happening.’ Nothing being done,” Lizzy said of the issue.

Littleton said they initially considered filing a full complaint against the district with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights last fall but didn’t pursue it. By the end of this year, however, she said she didn’t feel her daughter was safe. The complaint references issues as recently as May 17.

“On a daily basis, she was subjected to disparaging and belittling slurs associated (with) her sex,” the complaint reads. “She was also subjected to hateful discriminatory words/statements daily. She was told that she was not welcomed at the school, as well as the backs of her shoes were walked on. I have complained several times, most recently around May 10, 2022, but no remedial solution was reached.

“My daughter was discriminated against on the basis of retaliation and sex, female, for not conforming to sex stereotypes about how women were expected to present themselves in their physical appearance, behaviors, and/or actions.”

According to the civil rights department, when concerns are lodged, intake staff write up the complaint and send the draft back to the complainant, who signs it, has it notarized, and sends it back. Once jurisdiction is determined, an investigator is assigned.

Littleton’s complaint on behalf of Lizzy follows that of Worth Township residents Rob and April Malick’s on behalf of her adopted daughter, whose racial discrimination case is the subject of a federal lawsuit against the district. In a reply this week, Cros-Lex denied its negligence in responding to harassment complaints against the Malick's daughter, who's Black. Because of that case, their state civil rights complaint was closed on June 8.

Littleton’s state complaint remains under investigation.

A third Cros-Lex parent filed a complaint at the end of November, but that case was closed after the state's attempts to reach the complainant were unsuccessful.

Colette Moody,  who was appointed interim district superintendent this week with the departure of Dan Gilbertson, said the district is reviewing the Littleton complaint with counsel. 

"At Croswell-Lexington Community Schools, we provide a world-class education to our diverse student body," she said via email. "In unusual situations such as this, where a notice is received, we will work with all parties to move through the process.

Mother says daughter ‘can’t go back to that school’

Earlier this month, Lizzy told the Time Herald she didn’t normally like to complain about issues at school. 

“Then, I started dating a girl at that time. That’s when COVID came, and we went virtual and we made a group chat about helping each other with homework,” she said of the 2020-21 school year. “There were a ton of girls from my grade and boys from my grade, and they started saying, ‘Your mom should’ve gotten an abortion,’ like, ‘Wrist check,’ saying all this stuff. … They would send TikToks about just pure nastiness. I was kind of at home crying, and a week or two later, we went back to school.”

A little at a time, Lizzy said she made the issues known to school officials.

When she started her sophomore year with her hair cut short, she said the comments worsened — the slurs more extreme and direct.

Lizzy and her mother said school administrators encouraged her to work with the school counselor — something Littleton left up to her daughter, who preferred not to.

“They basically told me it’s a delusion in my head,” Lizzy said.

Now, Littleton said her daughter is attending school online year-round, and she doesn’t feel safe sending her back in the fall.

“She can’t go back to that school. And especially now that she’s kind of making waves, it would not be safe for her. There’s no way,” Littleton said. “It wasn’t safe for her when I took her out because it was escalating and getting physical with people trying to do snide little stuff where they wouldn’t get caught. They know where the security cameras are. They know which teachers pay attention.”

Family hopes to find recourse against bullying

Littleton and Lizzy were on their way to Detroit pride events when they stopped to recall the latter’s experience in Cros-Lex.

Littleton and Lizzy said they sought help in late 2021 from the Malicks and Kevin Watkins, president of Port Huron NAACP, about how to handle their complaints. 

April Malick and her daughter were among those who spoke up at a fall school board meeting alleging a district bullying problem. At that same meeting, the board passed an anti-discrimination ordinance detailing how they could address a more inclusive response in educating students.

But with the progression of the Malicks’ racial discrimination case and Littleton's civil rights complaint, Watkins said he doesn’t think the district is following its own guidelines.

“We’re hoping with Cros-Lex, that’s bringing the hammer down hard. We gave them the corrective steps to take, and they refused to do so,” he said. “… There’s no rhyme or reason for racism, discrimination, bullying. We have to show them it’s not going to be tolerated.”

Malick said she’s heard about plenty of problems from other families, adding that “90% of the same kids that had a problem with my daughter being Black didn’t like Lizzy because she was gay.”

Moving forward, Littleton hopes the state civil rights office helps provide recourse for her daughter.

“I trusted the school, trusted (administrators)," she said. "I thought (they) had her back. I thought (they were) going to take care of my child.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.