Mom accuses Marblehead’s Tower School of discrimination

MARBLEHEAD – A mother has charged the Tower School with discriminating against her daughter.Digna Scott, a former Lynn resident now living in Swampscott who is originally from the Dominican Republic, filed a complaint in June with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. She charges the West Shore Drive private school with retaliation against her and her daughter and that the headmaster used a racial slur during a telephone conversation with her in February.The complaint alleges that her daughter’s admission was revoked for the following school year, 2010-11, and was told if she tried to contact Tower staff again her daughter would be expelled for the remainder of the 2009-10 year.Tower’s letter said she was “supposedly disrespectful to the staff,” Scott said, but she charges that the admission was revoked because Scott complained to Tower about discriminatory treatment.MCAD spokesperson Barbara Green said the complaint is being investigated and the MCAD will not take action until the investigation is complete.Tower Business Manager Dean Sidell said Tower has received the complaint and has sent the MCAD their response. He declined to make the response public.”We unequivocally deny the complaint,” Sidell said, “but school policy is not to comment on the facts of the case until there is a determination.””We are cooperating with the investigation,” he added.In response to a specific question of the school headmaster using a racial slur Sidell said, “Tower has a code, a community-wide agreement that governs what we do. The first part is to respect all people, students, staff and parents. The second is to respect the right of teachers to teach.”Scott said that her daughter felt that her teacher was discriminating against her in class last year and in January, after “numerous attempts to request a meeting” she sent an e-mail to the teacher expressing her concern.”In the e-mail, I specifically stated that my child and the only other minority student in the classroom felt that (the teacher) was mistreating them,” Scott told the MCAD. “Shortly thereafter, the headmaster contacted me requesting that I refrain from communicating with the staff and requested a meeting (with me).””At the meeting I was reprimanded for implying that the school was racist and was informed that (the teacher) was not going to meet with me because she wanted to protect her professional integrity.”Scott said she called the school on Feb. 25 to inform them that the school bus failed to pick up her daughter. “During the brief telephone call, I was again accused of yelling at the director of admissions which is the person with whom I spoke,” she said.”Two days later, the headmaster demanded another meeting. I was unable to meet with him as requested due to work commitments. He became enraged at me, as he was hanging up I heard him say ‘Who does this spic think she is?’ A week later I received a certified letter from the headmaster revoking my daughter’s admission.”