VALDOSTA, Ga. — Parents in southern Georgia have filed a federal complaint saying that their African American daughter was repeatedly discriminated against over the course of her high school cheerleading season. 

Former University of Georgia wide receiver Lindsay Scott and Dr. Ronda Scott, parents of student Caitlyn Scott, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, against Lowndes High School claiming Caitlyn faced a fight to initially join the squad, was repeatedly denied opportunities and was given a “prank gift” at an awards banquet.

Ronda said the prank gift cited in the complaint was the “last straw,” but the parents’ worry began at “the beginning of the school year concerning the cheer squad selection process,” when Caitlyn first didn’t make the team.

“The process for selecting cheerleaders for the Junior Varsity squad was discriminatory and resulted in the selection of all white students to the JV squad,” documents said.

Ronda says initially only white students were selected for the junior varsity cheer squad and a check of the roster showed that six of those students were sophomores who had tried out for the varsity cheer squad but were not awarded spots.

“The rules said you had to pick a team to try out for,” Ronda said.

“White students were informed of the option to participate in the tryouts for both the varsity and the (junior varsity) squads and allowed to participate in both tryouts,” documents said. “(Caitlyn) was not informed of this option or allowed to participate in both tryouts.”

The other six students selected were from two local middle schools.

After tryouts, Ronda and Lindsay grew concerned because their daughter had recently returned from a national championship competition with her previous squad.

Ronda says she asked to see the scores of the students who participated in tryouts in order to challenge her daughter to continue practicing and try again the following year, but was prohibited from knowing the scores because they are school property.

The parents addressed their concerns with former LHS Principal Jay Floyd who added four more students, including Caitlyn, to the junior varsity cheerleading roster, Ronda said.

Ronda alleged the junior varsity cheerleading coach disliked the former principal’s actions and retaliated against Caitlyn.

“When Caitlyn was placed on the team,” Ronda said, “We decided to let bygones be bygones and let Caitlyn have a good year. But that didn’t happen.”

The complaint argues that alleged retaliatory action continued from the school including:

• Denying Caitlyn her opportunity to lead a cheer during the entire season that lasted from August 2015 to February 2016.
• Informing the white cheerleaders at the school of an opportunity to assist the middle school cheer squad in October 2015, but not providing Caitlyn with notice of the same opportunity.
• Failing to include Caitlyn’s parents sponsorship ad in the 2015-2016 football ad book.
• Discouraging black students from applying for the varsity squad during football season and instead, steering the black students toward the varsity squad during basketball season.

Ronda said the junior varsity cheer squad is “the stepping stone to varsity,” and girls of color are disadvantaged if they are kept outside of the opportunity to participate at earlier levels.

“We’re not asking for special favors,” Ronda said. “We’re not asking for preferential treatment.”

At the cheer banquet, Lindsay and Ronda said Caitlyn also received an open gift basket containing items they believe represent black stereotypes, including watermelon-flavored candies, a football and a cross. 

Other students received wrapped gifts. 

An open-records request filed with the school revealed a receipt for a football purchased from a local Publix and a home decor cross from Hobby Lobby.

No public receipts exist for either the basket or the candy but both items were purchased privately from Dollar Tree and Dollar General, Ronda said she was told by Lowndes High School Junior Varsity Cheerleading Coach Arabi Hill.

“Each item in that basket was purchased in a different store,” Ronda said, “which led us to believe the items had been carefully selected.”

The OCR notified both the parents and the school system it had opened an investigation into the matter Tuesday, documents said.

Lindsay also brought the allegations before the Lowndes Board of Education at the board’s meeting Monday.

Lowndes County Superintendent of Schools Wes Taylor and Assistant Superintendent Rodney Green forwarded the letter of complaint to Lowndes County Schools Attorney Warren Turner for review before making a statement.

The Office for Civil Rights will investigate whether Caitlyn was discriminated against during selection for the squad, was retaliated against after being placed on the team and whether the district discriminates against black students in the selection of varsity cheerleaders for the football season.

Stewart writes for the Valdosta, Georgia Daily Times.