LAMP High School, recognized nationally for its performance, has a toxic, intolerant, racially insensitive environment fueled for years by a cutthroat mentality to protect its reputation over student well-being, some parents and alumni said.
When a video of a student using a racial slur on Snapchat was widely seen in school, a black student shaken by it and by the other students laughing in the social media post said the principal told her to empathize with the students in the video.
Multiple times teachers have warned students against dating students from another race, former students said.
Confederate flag shirts have been allowed at Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School, one graduate said, but he was told to turn his "Black Lives Matter" shirt inside out during a presentation.
And a victim of an alleged sexual assault felt forced to sit in class with the boy she accused, her mother said, because she wasn’t allowed to change her schedule despite the boy’s intimidating behavior.
More than two dozen former students and their families talked with the Montgomery Advertiser, detailing accusations of unchecked insensitivity perpetrated by the magnet school’s students, as well as some teachers and administrators. This treatment, they say, has been part of the school's culture and climate for decades but worsened in recent years. They outlined an environment of high stress where the high school's top 25 national ranking motivated instances of wrongdoing to be concealed or unaddressed.
"(White) students were allowed to get away with things that African American and minority students were not allowed to do," Aniekan Ruffin, a 2017 graduate, said. "The level of class, respect and maturity that minority students had to show was definitely higher than the level white, cisgendered students had to show.”
Many alumni and parents said a fear of retaliation kept them from publicly speaking previously about the micro-aggressions and overt racism. Many felt they were retaliated against by the current principal after expressing concerns, especially after those issues were taken to Montgomery Public Schools' Central Office because they felt ignored.
Some parents waited to speak until their children graduated, while others removed their child from the school or, in one case, moved out of the district.
MPS Superintendent Ann Roy Moore declined to speak specifically about the allegations, citing school board policy that prevents discussing issues related to students or staff.
In response to a request for copies of grievances filed related to LAMP, MPS’ communication director wrote the district didn’t have any record of formal or informal grievances. Despite this, the Advertiser received copies of formal grievances made to MPS central office administrators against Principal Matthew Monson and his supervisor. A request also for copies of complaints submitted with the district's online form or for the total number of complaints was denied, citing board policy.
"If I had to conjure up a number, it would be very low," Moore said about issues involving LAMP she has heard.
She said she is not aware of a harmful atmosphere, particularly for minority students, permeating the magnet school.
"Am I aware a small group of people might feel that way — that’s probably in every school you go into," she said.
As superintendent, she added, allegations against any administrator at any school are taken seriously.
"I investigate it, and I investigate it thoroughly," Moore said.
When asked for comment on the alleged lack of minority student inclusivity and support on LAMP's campus, Principal Monson wrote, "LAMP is a diverse community of individuals learning and working together to support and advance the education of our students and the reputation of our institution. We aspire to create a campus climate that is respectful of all, safe for all, inclusive to all, and empowering for all."
Further questions, he wrote, should be directed to MPS' communication office. When provided a list of specific allegations, Monson declined to comment, with MPS' communication director again citing board policy.
Graduates detail ‘Make LAMP Great Again’ T-shirts, ‘Walk like a Monkey’ award, intolerance of Black culture
LAMP's population is split between white (41%), Asian (30%) and Black (26%) students, unlike the traditional high schools, which are predominantly Black after years of white attrition to private schools and suburban districts.
The school takes public pride in its diversity and family environment, 2018 graduate Carington Gaskin said. But she didn’t feel it as a Black student.
"I felt excluded. I felt hopeless. I felt like no one cared," she said.
When it came to Black students' high grades and high ACT scores, there was support. But when it came to the racist and problematic remarks by students and teachers, "the administration never spoke up for us Black students," she said.
Gaskin remembers white students sitting around and laughing when a Snapchat video captured another white student saying a racial slur. As it began to circulate around the school, she went to Monson about it.
"He told me to empathize with them. As I was crying and telling him about my experience, he told me they were hurting more because now everyone knew they said the 'N' word," Gaskin said.
Eric Flowers said his white girlfriend was pulled out of class by her math teacher who said he'd be mad if his daughter were dating a black guy like she was. That was in 2001, and the teacher is still at the school.
Kendra Woodruff, a 2007 graduate, said she was awarded the "Walk like a Monkey" award by her cheer coach during the varsity letter banquet. And a classmate, she said, once burst into tears because a teacher called the girl's parents to let them know their white daughter was dating a Black classmate.
Erica Gage, a 2018 graduate, remembers when, after years of wearing hair scarves to school, she was told by a white teacher they violated the student dress code. After going to the principal's office, Gage was asked why wearing scarves was so important to Black girls, then told they wouldn't be allowed anymore because they were too distracting.
This teacher, according to multiple former Black students, repeatedly punished Black girls for what the teacher said were dress code violations.
Yet, Gage said, "There were white girls at school who had their hair dyed crazy colors like pink and green."
Several former students remember the shirts that were worn amid the 2016 election. After Monson was hired, replacing a black principal, a group of students made T-shirts in his honor that read, "Monson — Make LAMP Great Again."
"My daughter came home crying a couple times after Trump got elected," parent Emmett Hampton said. 'Kids were saying the 'N' word. Teachers were making comments and jokes. If you weren’t on Team Trump, it was a very nasty climate."
Ruffin said after the "Make LAMP Great Again" shirts and Confederate flag shirts were allowed at LAMP, he was asked to turn his "Black Lives Matter" T-shirt inside out while he presented a poem to the school during Black History Month. The message, he was told, could upset some teachers.
"It was tiring, very tiring, always having to let things roll off my back and not take things to heart," he said.
‘They wanted her out rather than helping her’
Michelle Saathoff, whose daughter had attended LAMP, remembers the call she received from Monson in January 2018. He was yelling at her after receiving a call from his supervisor about a letter Saathoff's daughter, Alexis, wrote. In it, Alexis explained she didn't feel her sexual assault allegation against another student was handled correctly.
Monson told Michelle Saathoff that the letter shouldn't have been sent because the situation had been resolved.
The alleged assault happened in October 2017. Alexis waited to tell her mom until December. The following month, Monson was made aware of it and pulled both Alexis and the other student into his office separately. Then he brought them in together and made the male student apologize.
"When they walked out, Alexis said Monson patted the boy on the back and told him it'd be OK," Michelle Saathoff said.
Alexis felt she was blamed. She was also upset, her mother said, that she had several classes with the student she accused, and Monson wouldn't allow her to switch her schedule.
"She would tell me that she was uncomfortable because he would stare at her and try to intimidate her," Saathoff said of the boy’s behavior in the classes.
The following month, Alexis missed over a week of school after attempting suicide. She ultimately lost her spot at LAMP due to failing her math class that year.
"She always had a hard time at LAMP, but whenever this happened, she really started having trouble. ... She was just really depressed," Saathoff said.
Ultimately, Alexis died by suicide three months into her junior year in October 2018.
"Mental instability isn't viewed as OK, so they wanted her out rather than helping her," Saathoff said.
A focus on LAMP ratings, not students’ well-being
Another parent, Chris Ford ultimately decided to pull his daughter out of LAMP her sophomore year and pay for private tuition.
"Academically, it was just a very toxic environment. It's an environment where they really focus more on their numbers and not what it's doing to students," Ford said.
His daughter, he said, came to him repeatedly with stories of other students having nervous breakdowns, of students leaving class in tears, of students attempting suicide.
When his own daughter was breaking down, crying to the principal, he "told her he didn't have time for her," Ford said. "And that's the feeling I received from him, too.”
He considered going to the Montgomery Public Schools Board of Education, he said, but decided it'd be better to move on.
"It was better for her to transfer for her mental well-being. ... We all want our kids to excel academically," he said, "and we know LAMP is a great academic school but at what expense."
Most parents who talked with the Advertiser had contemplated leaving LAMP or have since regretted not doing so. A coveted magnet school, gaining entrance is itself a great feat. Montgomery's traditional high schools' rankings in terms of academic achievement are far below in comparison, and private school tuition is not an option for all families.
Parents question leadership, accuse it of retaliation for raising concerns
Ryan Morgan, whose daughter just graduated, said had he known what he knows now, he would have never sent her to LAMP.
The issues started her sophomore with a teacher she felt was vindictive, and the school counselor promised she wouldn't have to be in that teacher's class again in the coming years, Morgan said.
"It was bad enough to where my daughter almost had a nervous breakdown,” Morgan said. “She had to go to counseling."
Yet, she was assigned to the teacher's class again her senior year and a request to switch classes was denied by Monson. When Morgan went to Monson's supervisor, it was still denied, he said.
"We had a letter from her (psychologist) that she was seeing that said she needed to be out of that class," Morgan said.
When, after speaking with the district's student support services department, she was finally switched out of the class — to then be assigned an advanced computer course without having taken a previous computer class.
"I think what it is, if he doesn't like the parents, he takes it out on the kids. I've seen it numerous times and it's typically the parents who stand up to him and question him. He's very vindictive. He's very condescending. I've just never dealt with anyone like that ever," Morgan said of the principal.
Hampton, who has one LAMP graduate and another child entering her senior year, also tried but failed to have his daughter's class switched.
Her junior year, Hampton explained, she was placed in an art class, although she had fulfilled her art requirement and needed to take an ACT prep course.
When Hampton first spoke with Monson about this, he was told to go to Monson's supervisor about a schedule switch.
"When I met with him, I explained the situation, he said it sounded absolutely reasonable. He said yes, but then it never happened," Hampton said of Monson's supervisor.
In an MPS Grievance Complaint Form, Hampton detailed the timeline of going from Monson, to Monson's boss, back to Monson, again to Monson's boss, and then to the superintendent.
Monson pulled his daughter into his office two days in a row to let her know her schedule would not be changed, the form states.
"I felt like there was no need for him to do that. It was really an attempt to bully or intimidate. We were dealing with central office by that time, so why call her in by herself and say that?" Hampton said.
In the grievance form he sent, he requested to be present whenever his daughter met with Monson.
An alum of LAMP, Hampton said he is heartbroken after reading the hundreds of comments LAMP alums shared about their negative experiences online.
"I thought maybe we just got a couple bad decisions and bad knocks. My school used to be wonderful," he said.
With two sons in the magnet system, Hampton said he will not allow them attend LAMP later.
"I hate that because the academics, and I would like that foundation for my children, but I'm not going to put them in that position. As a father, I could not reconcile putting them through what my daughters have been through over there," he said.
LAMP alumni Facebook group shut down
Members of a newly formed alumni association, some including graduates of the early 2000s, were saddened that in 2020, the culture at LAMP remains detrimental.
Multiple stories of recent inequities came to light on social media after a white LAMP senior recently posted a video discussing the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Multiple online commenters described the video as racist. The attempts to silence these voices by first advising against speaking about "politics" in an alumni Facebook group managed by a former principal then the group being shut down were seen by some the Montgomery Advertiser interviewed as a traditional tactic.
"If it didn't align with LAMP's mission, then we don't want to talk about it," Slayton Jefferson Underwood, a 2000 graduate, said.
"If I could do anything to make LAMP better for future students, I certainly would. LAMP has a reputation to uphold academically, but I don't think LAMP should be marred by an environment of racial hostility or racial intolerance," he added.
Flowers, whose white girlfriend was berated for dating him while at LAMP, saw the stories shared by recent grads as "instances of systematic abuse in power, systematic racism and people just being completely unheard or voiceless," he said.
"I've never met anyone who is not utterly proud of being a LAMP graduate," he said about why these stories need to be told. "I will not allow them to sully that institution. ... We don't want LAMP to be destroyed. We just want a safe place for the current and future students."
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
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