Hazelwood School District
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Updated – March 18, 2024
A student in the Hazelwood School District remains in critical condition after a fight with another student who repeatedly slammed her head against concrete. The violent scene was caught on video and has since gone viral.
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING.
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Reports say police found the victim lying in the street within walking distance of Hazelwood East High School. She sustained multiple critical head injuries, including a brain bleed, skull fracture, and frontal lobe damage.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called for the 15-year-old assailant to be charged as an adult and tried for murder if the victim dies.
This evil and complete disregard for human life has no place in Missouri, or anywhere. I am praying for the victim. The criminal should be charged and tried as an adult. If the victim dies, that offense should rise to a homicide. https://t.co/WYdsYT0Ezd
— Andrew Bailey (@AndrewBaileyMO) March 10, 2024
On March 13, 2024, KSDK News published an update that said:
“The girl critically injured in a fight seen by millions of people online remains in the hospital with traumatic brain injuries, her family confirmed … The [St. Louis County Police Department] said on Saturday, [the] 15-year-old suspect was arrested and is currently being held by St. Louis County Family Court on assault charges. John O’Sullivan with the St. Louis County Courts said it is too soon to know if the suspect will be charged as an adult. There will be a court hearing in the next few weeks.”
Sources have not identified what started the fight. However, AG Bailey said he believes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology is responsible for fueling teen violence. He reiterated a need to “hold wrongdoers accountable.”
In 2022, the Hazelwood School District Board of Education won a so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership Award after publishing their 2021 Racial Equity Policy and working to increase district-wide DEI practices. The policy says the district “view[s] our diversity as an asset” and that they “will vigorously implement and actively enforce the equity policy.” The following definitions were included for educational purposes:
- “Anti-Racist — Someone who opposes racism with their actions, words and beliefs.”
- “Cultural Responsiveness — The incorporation of diverse racial/ethnic cultures, views and experiences into teaching and learning.”
- “Implicit Bias — Refers to attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.”
- “Macroaggressions — Comments or actions that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally express a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a racial minority).”
The district also has a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Solutions Group that meets bi-monthly to “engage in professional development, assess district progress, and contribute solutions.” In 2020, the group advised the board to revise the district curriculum and integrate DEI learning objectives into all areas of study.
AG Bailey publicly stated:
“[These students] attend a school that has a history of promoting DEI programs [and] racial divisiveness at the expense of having uniformed police officers in their schools. So, the systems are failing. The adults are pushing radical social agendas and the cost is seen in the video. This heinous assault has resulted in disastrous consequences, and the adults in the room need to stand up and do the right thing … Stop promoting this culture of violence.”
Two GoFundMe pages are available here and here to help the victim’s family cover medical costs and other needs during the student’s recovery.
Please send tips, updates, and information on Hazelwood School District to [email protected].
Updated – July 14, 2023
According to KMOV 4 News, a former security guard at Hazelwood School District was found guilty of six felony crimes against a child. “Dexter Wade, 40, was convicted of first and second-degree statutory rape, enticement of a child and three counts of first-degree statutory sodomy.”
According to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Wade committed many sex crimes against the young girl at Hazelwood Central Middle School. The crimes were committed while the student was a seventh and eighth grader.
The victim saved Snapchat conversations which initially displayed Wade portraying himself as a “father figure” to the victim. This eventually led up to him presenting as both a “father figure and a lover” to the child. The state shared that “Wade went so far as to tell the victim he could see them having children in the future.”
When the conviction was announced, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell stated, “Schools are supposed to be a place to educate and nurture students, not groom them as victims.”
KSDK News states that the crimes were reported by the girl in 2020. Awaiting trial, Wade was detained, and he is no longer employed with the district.
Published – October 20, 2022
Hazelwood School District’s Jana Elementary will move to virtual learning after radioactive waste was found at the school. Ashley Bernaugh, President of Jana Elementary’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), alleges that the school district knew of unsafe levels prior to the beginning of the school year and chose not to alert parents.
Jana Elementary sits in the flood plain of Coldwater Creek, which was contaminated by waste from uranium ore produced by the Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. from 1942 to 1957. Over the years, it’s believed that floodwater from the creek deposited radioactive waste in neighborhoods and the school grounds. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been the group in charge of cleaning up this waste.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that USACE documents in an ongoing federal lawsuit against Mallinckrodt Chemical Co. showed “significant radiation contamination in the vicinity of Jana Elementary School.” Court documents further claim that these findings were shared with the Hazelwood School District superintendent earlier this year, but that parents were not informed.
The plaintiffs in the case say that the Corps “downplayed the contamination … in what could be construed as an attempt to provide the Superintendent with an excuse not to inform the parents.”
As part of the lawsuit, an independent report was conducted by the Boston Chemical Data Corp. and found that radioactive waste in the area was up to 22 times more than the expected level. In samples taken from Jana Elementary on August 15, 2022, radioactive waste was found in the kitchen, library, HVAC system, the playground, and in dust in classrooms.
After the Boston Chemical Data Corp. report came out, the district released a statement:
“The Hazelwood School District is aware of the report regarding radioactive contamination at Jana Elementary. Safety is always our top priority, and we are actively discussing the implications of the findings. The Board of Education will be consulting with attorneys and experts in this area of testing to determine next steps.”
The district announced its plans to proceed at a school board meeting on October 18. Starting October 24, all students at Jana Elementary will move to virtual learning before eventually being moved to new school buildings. The district said that beginning the week of November 14, parents can expect to be notified of where their students will report to school starting November 28.
School Board President Betsy Rachel apologized at the meeting, saying:
“This is causing a disruption to our student’s education and school climate. For that, we sincerely apologize.”
Hazelwood School District is located in Florissant, Missouri and currently enrolls over 17,000 students across 20 elementary schools, 6 middle schools, and 3 high schools, as well as separate campuses for early childhood, gifted, and individualized learning.
